Illuminate
by BrightLightGirl15
Summary: What happens when an ordinary teenager meets her hero? Illumination, of course! Gabriele is an intelligent but otherwise typical eighteen-year-old who wants to be just like Cole, ninja of earth, until she is suddenly rescued by him and asked by Sensei Wu to join the team. Contains Jay/Nya and one other pairing. There's something here for lovers of (almost) any genre!
1. Chapter 1

Illuminate : Chapter 1

"Class, today we will be continuing our study of Ninjago history. Can anyone tell me approximately when we left off?" The one bright eyed student in the room raised her hand. The thin, pale teacher looked around the room and asked

"Anyone other than Gabriele?" Everybody else in the room was either half asleep or chatting quietly with their friends. When the teacher's glaring eyes fell on the latter, they quickly sate up as if they actually cared. It was early May, and everyone was tired of learning. Well, almost everyone. The young woman sighed, then turned to the eager girl.

"Yes, Gabriele."

"Yesterday we finished with the Treaty of Changdu that ended the Fifty Year War. The Fifty Year War was actually fifty-four years long, and it was thought to be started by trade disputes between northern Ninjago and the Dark Realm. Ninjago refused to provide more than their original quota of weapons, and the Dark Realm fought back. The treaty increased the quota by one hundred more swords per year, but the Dark Realm cannot manufacture any of its own weapons and they have to provide the metal needed to create the excess swords," Gabriele recited.

"Good," the history teacher replied. "Now, following the war was a two hundred year peace that ended with the First Ninja War." At the sound of the word 'ninja' the students all looked up at the teacher. She could not hide her self-satisfied smirk. "I'm glad that you all have decided to pay attention now. Who can tell me who the two sides were in the First Ninja War?" All of the hands in the room shot into the air.

Gabriele zoned out as someone else answered. She knew everything about the Spinjitsu Masters: Kai, master of fire, Jay, master of lightning, Zane, master of ice, and Cole, master of earth. Their elements matched their personalities. Kai was fiery and impulsive and almost impossible to stop, Jay was bright and electric, Zane was stoic and unmovable (there were even some rumors that he was a robot!) and Cole was their fearless leader, strong, tough, and wise. Gabriele wanted to be like him. Cole was her hero. Literally. One day she had been shopping for her mother in Jamonicai Village and the Hypnobrai had invaded. All that she could remember was being hypnotized then seeing Cole plunge the antidote-filled staff into the public fountain. She had tried to get closer, to thank him, but he and the others had disappeared without a trace. Most afternoons, after completing her homework of course, she would dream about what it would be like to be a ninja, fighting bravely to save the people of Ninjago from evil. Everytime that she envisioned herself like that, though, her 'normal' logical laughed and told her to snap out of it. Heck, Gabriele couldn't even do 20 push-ups in P.E., much less defend herself and others. Gabriele snapped out of her reverie at the sound of students laughing in the halls and the people around her packing up their books.

"Alright class, I expect everyone to be prepared to name the seven regions of Ninjago by memory by Monday. Have a nice weekend!" Gabriele hurriedly packed her backpack in time to follow her friends out the door. Just as she walked outside, she thought she saw a flash of red disappear around the side of the building. "Hey guys, I'll be right back," she called as she ran around the corner. She heard the sound of battle, and ran toward it. Just as she was about to discover where the clamor was coming from, a light step sounded behind her. Before Gabriele could turn, her body was pressed against the rock wall. She screamed loudly, and her attacker struck her head with a blunt weapon. The world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Illuminate : Chapter 2

Cole's POV

I was reviewing the Tiger Strike. A basic move, but it requires perfect form. I knew it inside and out, I was reviewing it for practice, but I could not focus. As I viewed the perfect starting position, I saw the flash of water in the sun. With the swish of the fist forward, I felt the paralyzingly cold current of a river pulling at me, and with the final lunge forward to complete the move, I heard a woman's laugh. Not just anyone's laugh, but my mother's.

I gave up trying to focus on practice maneuvers and turned to my bunk. Under it, where no one could find it, was a box full of photos. I pulled it out and flipped through the stacks looking for a certain one. Ah, there it was! A picture of my parents and me at a river. That was where those sensory memories were from: a vacation when I was very young, nine or ten. It was one of the last vacations we all ever went on. We had been camping, my father's idea. My mother wanted to have a picnic so we all trekked the short distance to a river nearby. When we arrived, my mother saw at once that there were natural slides where the river gradually dropped about eight feet. The water was smooth for the drop and was churned into foam at the bottom.

My mother and I joined hands and plunged into the water above the fall. When we were in the middle of the river, we picked up our feet and drifter over the falls. I didn't know how to swim, but I was an impulsive child and thought that as long as I held my mom's hand I would be safe. My only moment of fear was when we slipped over the falls and I was plunged under water. I could not lift my head above the water and I started to panic until my mother's strong grip pulled me up and out of the current. The second my head broke the surface I heard my father cheering and Mom gushing about how amazing the ride had been. The joy flooded back through me as I recovered from my fright. Then...

Knock, knock, the sound of someone at the door interrupted my thoughts. Jay burst in saying

"Enemy spotted at the Ra Burando School."

"What sort of enemy? We defeated the Serpentine, and Lord Garmadon isn't coming back. Who else is there?" I replied.

"Neither Nya nor Sensei know what they are. At least, Sensei won't tell us what they are. All he says is that they're shadows."

"Sounds like Sensei; he never wants to make it easy for us. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! Thanks so much for reading. Please review, especially if you hate it. Also send ideas. You can never have too much inspiration. **

Illuminate : Chapter 3

Cole's POV

When I rushed up to the deck, I saw that everyone else was on deck. I mentally slapped myself in the face. As a leader, I was supposed to be the first in everything, especially an attack. Just before I jumped to the ground, Sensei Wu stopped me.

"Cole, we do not know what is down there. I sense that this is more dangerous that any of you have ever encountered. Be careful. Also, try to keep your fight behind the school, because class has let out for the weekend and we do not want any children hurt in the fray."

"Yes, Sensei," I replied, slightly confused. We had defeated the worse evil of all time, Lord Garmadon. How much more evil could this new enemy be? I heard Kai shout, and I realized that I was going to be the last to leave the ship.

_Last again! _I thought. _Come on, Cole. Focus. _By the time I landed with a somersault roll onto the pavement by the side of the school, Jay and Zane were already engaging the enemy. They were covered in armor and cloth with not a bit of skin showing. They had human shapes, and their helmets that covered the top half of their heads looked like an ebony skull. The mouths and bottom halves of these warrior's faces were wrapped in jet black cloth. That same cloth made the pants that were almost completely protected by plates of armor over the thighs and legs of the attackers. The breast plate was made out of some sort of black steel, and that covered a chain metal shirt, also in black. The final thing that I noticed was that they all had black leather gloves and a matching leather weapon belt that held two swords.

_Sensei was right; this isn't like anything we have ever faced._ As I ran to join the fight, I noticed Kai observing the school children. Before I could ask, he said

"If any of them head this way, I can tell you to get us out."

"Thanks," I yelled as I swung my scythe at the first attacker.

_Interesting. Usually Kai would be the one fighting and Zane would be acting as a precautionary measure. _My attention was quickly drawn back to my opponent as he landed a blow with his sword on my metal shoulder protectors. To my amazement, the metal was sliced clean through. I started to give my all to the fight, but then I saw that another attacker was coming to help his friend.

"Hey Kai, we could use a little help right now!" I called. He dashed over right away. He distracted the new fighter, but I was still having trouble. Suddenly, his sword was at my neck and I was looking him in the eye, the only part of him that was visible. In that instant, everything disappeared. All I could see, hear, or feel was darkness. My instinct told me to resist, but I could not fight against the black.

But then I heard a feminine scream from behind me. The world came back into focus. I punched my opponent in the face and ran towards the woman. As I turned the corner I saw her fall to the ground as a result of being knocked out by the handle of the sword of one of the enemy. I felt furious anger pour through me, and I swung my scythe and chopped off my opponent's head. Surprisingly, all of him dissolved, even his armor, into a black gas that quickly disappeared. I turned towards the woman. She was younger than I thought. She appeared to be around eighteen years old. She was, well, not fat, but certainly not thin. Her warm brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her bangs covered some of her tanned face. There was nothing remarkable about her; even her clothes were boring but something told me to not just leave her there. I turned at the sound of feet running up behind me. Jay, Zane, and Kai were standing behind me.

"Who is that?" Jay asked bluntly.

"I have no idea who she is. We should probably leave her here. She'll forget everything when she… is that blood?" I had just noticed a puddle of something near her head. I leaned down and touched it. My fingers turned red.

"Okay, change of plan. We're taking her with us." I scooped the girl up and looked at the others. They were all staring at me like I was crazy.

"Why?" asked Kai. I searched frantically for a reason that would make more sense than that I wanted to protect her.

"Well, um, oh! Don't you think it would seem pretty suspicious if someone from the school came and found a girl with blood pouring from her head? An innocent person might get blamed!" I finished, praying that they would agree. Zane spoke up

"That is a perfectly logical reason, but what will Sensei think?"

"I guess we're about to find out," I responded as Destiny's Bounty landed behind us. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, another boring author's note. Just for some of you trivia fans, this would be the first time that Cole would try to kill somebody. In the show they just disabled their enemies. Have fun! Please tell me why you love or hate it. **

Illuminate : Chapter 4

Cole's POV

After we briefly explained to Sensei why in Ninjago I was holding a high school girl with a bleeding wound, I took her to a spare room and laid her on the bed. Soon after, Nya came in and bound up her head. All that was left was to wait until she woke up. Nya had left, so it was just me with her. As I watched her still face and saw the sheets moving up and down slightly with every breath that she took, my memory flickered back to when my mother was on her deathbed. I heard someone open and walk through the door. It was Sensei Wu. I stood up to offer him my chair, but he stopped me.

"There is no need," he said. We, well I sat, he stood, in silence for a while, and the memories started to come back. I couldn't take it any longer.

"Is she going to die?" I asked, half afraid of the answer. Sensei seemed surprised.

"Why would you think that?" I remained silent for a moment, but then I decided to answer.

"My mother got sick when I was younger, and she looked like this right before, well…" There was so much more to the story, so much more I could tell, and I think that Sensei could tell, but for some reason I just couldn't go on. I turned to my mentor to see his expression and he opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, but then I heard something from the bed. The girl's left hand moved up to touch her bandaged head and her eyelids fluttered open.

"Where, oh, my head, where am I?"

Gabriele's POV

For a split second I thought that I was dead, but that thought caused a wave of pain course through my head.

_Being dead wouldn't hurt this much. _I reached up to touch my head and felt bandages underneath my fingertips. I slowly realized that I was lying in a bed, and it wasn't mine.

"Where, where am I?" I asked as I opened my eyes. Two heads came into view. I gasped as my brain identified these two people.

"Sensei Wu? And Cole, ninja of earth?" Cole stared at me like I was crazy for a second, but then he nodded. I struggled to sit up, causing more pain to shoot through me.

"Then I must be on Destiny's Bounty. _The _Destiny's Bounty!" I'm sure that I had the sappiest fan-girl expression on my face. Cole was staring at me again. He finally said something. If I hadn't been so worried that he thought of me as completely crazy, I would have enjoyed hearing his strong voice; it was the voice of a leader.

"How do you know who we are? And where we live?" he asked. Now it was my turn to stare, but I was completely shocked.

"You're kidding, right? You're just messing with me." As his expression remained completely puzzled I guessed that he had no idea what I was talking about. "You seriously didn't know that you, Zane, Jay, Kai, Nya, and Sensei Wu are the most famous evil-fighting team in Ninjago history? Well, not as many people know about Sensei Wu and Nya, but still! You guys are in every history textbook, every newspaper, every website; you even are having books written about you. You guys are the most loved people in Ninjago!" I concluded. I don't think it would be possible for Cole to be more surprised. Sensei Wu looked shocked as well, but he recovered more quickly.

"That is unexpected," he said. "I must go meditate on what to do about this knowledge, among other things." He seemed to disappear. It was kind of awkward with just the two of us in there. I was basking in the glory of being in the same room as my hero, but I had expected the first time that we met he would be fighting along side me, and he would invite me to join the team. This was the exact opposite. Cole was sitting in a small wooden chair in the mostly empty room. He was slumped against the back of chair, and he was staring at the floor. His thick black hair fell over his blue-gray eyes. Everyone that I had talked had assumed that Cole's eyes were green because that seemed to be the natural pairing, but when he had looked over me I had seen that his irises were gray at the edges and gradually faded to blue in the middle. It was a really unusual eye color; I thought that it was fascinating. I had always wanted for my eyes to be something to be something, anything other than brown, but brown they stayed. To tell the truth, I was jealous of Cole's eyes. His hair was covering those amazing eyes because his hood was off, and that drew my attention to his metal shoulder guard which appeared to be broken. Suddenly, I asked

"How did that happen?" He jumped slightly at the sound of my voice and looked up from the floor. I pointed at his shoulder to clarify, and he relaxed slightly.

"Oh, that. One of your attackers cut it off."

"All right, two more questions. First, whoever it was cut through metal like butter? And second, _my_ attackers?" Cole replied

"Yeah. Don't you remember one of those things pinning you against the wall and knocking you out?"

"No. Why would they want to pin me against a wall? It's not like I could have done anything to hurt them. Were they Serpentine?"

"No, they were covered in black armor and when I looked into one of their eyes, I couldn't feel, see, or hear anything. It was all black, but then I heard you scream and I punched the thing in the face. I ran towards you but the creature had just hit you over the head and I saw you fell to the ground. I swung my scythe and chopped off the guy's head but then he completely dissolved. The guys ran up and told me that the others had done that same thing. Then I noticed that you were bleeding, so we couldn't leave you behind. I brought you on board, Nya fixed you up, and here we are. I was in awe.

"You saved me. Again."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everybody! I just realized that I have been forgetting to say that I don't own Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu. I just own Gabriele Blackstone. Thanks for reading, and please tell me what you like or hate about my story, especially if you hate it. Be forewarned, this chapter is really sad, but please tell me if you think that it is cheesy.**

Illuminate : Chapter 5

Cole's POV

Finally, the girl had woken up. I leaned over her. For some reason, she knew exactly who I was and who Sensei was. Then she started to talk about how famous we were. Sensei seemed slightly bothered by this, so he left to go meditate. The small room fell silent. I watched the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in my line of vision. That, however, was the girl. I could hardly believe that I had thought that she was boring. When she was describing how famous we were, her face had lit up with a charmingly bright smile. She wasn't really beautiful, but when she smiled, it lit up the whole room. He didn't know how that was possible. Suddenly, she asked,

"How did that happen?"

_What the… Did she hear what I was thinking?_ She pointed at my shoulder and I saw the severed metal.

_You're going crazy, Cole. Of course she can't hear your thoughts._

"Oh, that. One of your attackers cut it off," I answered. She looked at me like she was confused and countered,

"All right, two more questions. First, whoever it was cut through metal like butter? And second, _my _attackers?" She must have forgotten.

"Yeah. Don't you remember one of those, those things pinning you against the wall and knocking you out?" _Way to state the obvious, Cole. _She replied quickly,

"No. Why would they want to pin me against a wall? It's not like I could have done anything to hurt them." It seemed to me like she didn't have much self-confidence, at least when it came to her physical abilities. I then proceeded to tell her about why she was on the ship. By the time I had finished, her eyes, her warm chocolate eyes, were open wide in amazement and her mouth had dropped open in awe. I didn't expect her to speak, but she did. Quietly.

"You saved me. Again." I turned to her with a puzzled expression.

"Remember when the Hypnobrai attacked Jamonicai Village?" she asked. At my nod, she continued. "I was there. All I can remember is you giving the antidote to everybody. I tried to thank you, but you and the others disappeared. After that, I …" she fell silent.

"You what?" I asked.

"Oh nothing," she responded. It seemed, and I wasn't sure, that she started blushing.

"Come on," I coaxed, "tell me." She just shook her head. "I promise that I won't tell anybody." Her response was a small smile. I really liked her smile. It seemed like a ray of sunshine. "Please?" I asked. I had almost forgotten what I was asking for.

"Oh, all right. It's not like I'm going to see you again," she said, half to herself. At the sound of her words, I flinched.

_That's sad. She's only going to tell me her secret because she thinks that she won't have to see me again._

"Ever since that incident, you have been my hero. I want to be just like you. You're such a strong, confident leader, and I felt like the best way to thank you would be to copy your example." I was, at best, stunned, at worst, reeling. 'A strong, confident leader.' I had heard those words before. My mother had told them to me to be that on her deathbed. Suddenly the girl in the bed smiled mischeviously.

"I've shared my greatest secret, Cole, so now it's your turn." Before I could think, I started talking.

"When I was ten years old, my mother fell ill. The day that she died, she called me to her room and said to me, 'Cole, you are what's kept me going for so long. You have been my rock. You will grow up to be a stong, confident leader, but remember your youthful happiness. Don't grow up too fast. I will always love you, Cole.' She fell asleep and never woke up. I, well, I always felt like if I had done something, if I had been happier, kinder, or something to my mother she would have lived longer." I could not force myself to look into the girl's eyes anymore. I glared at the floor. When my emotions were back under lock and key, I glanced back up at the girl. She was crying.

"I'm so sorry! Was it something I said?" I asked frantically. She just started sobbing. Finally, she looked at me and inquired,

"You were ten?" I nodded. Her hands quickly came up to cover her face. After a few minutes, she sat up straight, sniffed loudly, and wiped her face with the back of her hands.

"I've got tissues in my backpack. My backpack! Where is it?" she asked.

"Um, let me see. I'll be right back." I stepped outside where the guys greeted my with a barrage of questions.

"Not now, guys," I said to stop the inquiries.

"Can you at least tell us her name?" Kai demanded.

_You forgot to ask what her name is, you idiot! _ I yelled at myself. I tried to cover with a

"Not right now, Kai. Did any of you grab her backpack?"

"I did," piped up Jay. "It weighs a ton! What does she have in there?" He handed it to me. I ignored his questions and walked back inside the room.

"Here you go." I offered her the backpack. She lifted it up beside without a problem, unzipped the front pocket, and pulled out a packet of tissues. "Do you need anything else?" I asked. She shook her head.

"What is your name?" I questioned. She sniffed again.

"Gabriele Esther Blackstone."

"Cole Antonio Clays."

"Really?" Gabriele smiled as she asked. "I like it." I found myself staring at her eyes. Again!

_Snap out of it! _"So, um, why were you so worried about your backpack?" I blurted out.

"Well, during the week I practically live out of this thing," she giggled. Her chuckle was light and feminie.

"Oh! Wait a second…" she exclaimed as she started rummaging through the backpack's many pockets until she pulled out what appeared to be an outfit. "I thought that I had brought this with me," she announced triumphantly. "Now I can get out of these dirty clothes." Her polo shirt had blood on it, and her khakis were covered in the dirt of the parking lot where she had fallen.

"Do you want me to stay?" I asked. She smirked as she countered,

"Yes Cole, I want you to stay to watch me change clothes. Me, an eighteen year old girl. My moral standards are somewhat higher than that." My face burned painfully as I stuttered an apology and dashed out of the door. I think the guys were about to start questioning me again, but then they saw how red-faced I was. They started to grin.

"So Cole, what happened?" Kai asked.

"Did she try to kiss you?" Jay questioned.

"Or, did she just bat her eyelashes at you and because you aren't used to girls you became this embarrassed?" Zane inquired.

"What? No! Gabriele wouldn't do that!" I shouted angrily.

"Oh, so that's her name," Zane commented. "Guys, do you think…" he left his sentence unfinished.

"Stop right there," I demanded. "I know where this is going."

"Well then, please enlighten us," begged Kai with a smirk.

"You guys think that I have a crush on Gabriele. That's not true. If people have 'love at first sight' it's because of how the other person looks, not because of anything they do. Trust me, Gabriele is nice, but she's not gorgeous." At the sound of my last words, Jay flinched, Kai looked down at the ground, and Zane started to walk away, only to be pulled back by Jay. I turned slowly to see an absolutely livid Gabriele.


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome everyone to Chapter 6! Please read and review, especially if you don't like it. Tell me why! Thanks. Oh, and I don't own Ninjago : Masters of Spinjitsu, just Gabriele Blackstone. **

Illuminate : Chapter 6

Gabriele's POV

As soon as I walked outside after changing, the only thing that I heard was "Gabriele may be nice, but she is not gorgeous." I think that I was scarlet with rage.

"What is wrong with you, Cole?" I demanded. "I trust you with my greatest secret, and all you can do is judge me on my looks? Thanks a lot." I stormed off. I had to get away. I ran up to the front of the ship to the dragon's head and I climbed onto the snout.

_Come on, Gabriele. Breath. You know that you're not that pretty. It's nothing to get angry over. It's just the truth._ _I bet that Cole had a good reason for saying that. Ok, well that might be a lie, but you just need to calm down._ I breathed calmly and deeply and I tried to admire the clouds that surrounded me. The more that I relaxed, the more that the pain in my head eased. I had barely noticed the ache, but I felt so much better now that it was leaving. I sun was approaching the horizon and it's light made all of the clouds different colors. I was surrounded by pink, orange, gold, and plain fluffy white. My anger dissipated at the beauty. As I was admiring everything, I heard a person run across the deck and vault onto the head of the dragon.

"Gabriele?" It was Cole. He sounded uncertain. It was the complete opposite of what his voice was usually like. I turned and greeted him. He sat beside me on the dragon's head.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened, and I didn't mean to say that." Before he could continue, I stopped him.

"Cole, it's ok. What you said was true; I'm not beautiful. I just haven't heard anybody else say that in a while, and I wasn't expecting to hear it from my hero and role model the very first time that we met. I thought… well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you don't need to apologize. I'm the one who needs forgiveness. I'm sorry that I got so angry over something silly. Will you forgive me?"

Cole's POV

As soon as Gabriele ran off, I started to follow her but Kai held me back.

"Don't go yet. Give her time to cool down," he advised.

"Oh yeah? Well, I have something perfect to do in the meantime," I replied while punching my hand. After I chewed out the guys for making me look like a jerk, I looked around the ship for Gabriele. She was sitting on the ship's figurehead. As I started running towards her, I decided to not tell her why I had said what I did. She thought of me as a leader; as leader accepts responsibility for his team. I jumped up onto the dragon. She appeared to be watching the sun filter through the clouds. Hoping that she wouldn't start yelling at me again, I asked tentatively,

"Gabriele?" She looked back and waved with a smile. She scooted back to the head of the dragon and gestured for me to sit next to her.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened, and I didn't mean to say that." I took a breath and was about to continue when she interrupted. Her melodic voice didn't sound angry or upset; it was mellow and sweet again.

"Cole, it's ok. What you said was true; I'm not beautiful. I just haven't heard anybody else say that in a while, and I wasn't expecting to hear it from my hero and role model on the very first day that we met. I thought… well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you don't need to apologize. I'm the one who needs forgiveness. I'm sorry that I got so angry over something silly. Will you forgive me?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

_She wants me to forgive her? I was the one who messed up! _I heard her chuckle warmly as she said,

"You might want to shut your mouth before a bird flies into it." I shut my mouth, but I was still shocked into silence until I noticed that she was looking at me expectantly. It was then that I remembered that she had asked for forgiveness.

"Oh, of course I forgive you."

"Good. Now, will you help me get back onto the deck? I'm afraid of heights and I just looked down." I smiled, jumped up, and held out my hand to help her up. She was pretty freaked out, I could tell, but she made it down without problems. Just as she was thanking me, Sensei stepped out.

"Cole, Gabriele," he greeted, nodding to each of us in turn.

"How did you…" she started to ask, but then she wisely shut her mouth. "Did you find the answers for which you sought, Sensei Wu?" she questioned respectfully instead.

"No, child, I did not. I found knowledge that was even more precious. You are to join the ranks of the ninja." When I looked at Gabriele, she was past shock. Her face was white with horror, fright, confusion, and, but maybe I was just imagining it, excitement. She reached for something to hold onto, and I held out my arm for her to grasp. I think that she cut off the circulation in my arm with the strength of her grip. Sensei just stood there, smiling gently at his new student. Finally, she was able to stammer out,

"Wh…wh…wh… why m… m… me?"

"I'm not sure, but I have seen you helping us in the future. You have a gift that needs to be utilized." Gabriele found her voice and started asking,

"But what about school? I'm about to graduate! And my job? And what am I supposed to tell my family?"

"Those obstacles are but slight nuisances. A way will be found," Sensei replied as he walked back inside. Before he closed the door, he said, "Cole, it's your turn to fix dinner. I, for one, am very hungry."

_Some days I just want to shake Sensei. Today is one of those days. _I felt so bad for Gabriele; she had just had her entire world turned upside down and I couldn't comfort her because I had to go cook. _Nobody even appreciates my cooking anyway._ My attention was pulled back to Gabriele as she shook her head and started to smile.

"May I help you cook?" she asked. "It will help me become calm."

"Sure," I agreed. We walked into the kitchen together with her hand still grasping my arm in a death grip. Jay was in there getting a drink from the fridge. He was about to make a joke about Gabriele holding onto me when he saw her face. The grin on his face disappeared.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she lied.

"Okay, if you're sure," he replied unconvinced. As he left, he shot me a look that clearly meant: 'What the heck did you do?' I shrugged my shoulders in reply.

"Um, can you let go of my arm now?" I suggested.

"Oh goodness. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," I replied as I massaged my forearm back to life. She started to bustle around the kitchen.

"Let's get to work. What do you have to cook with here?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Have fun everybody! Please review and tell me why you hate/love it! Unfortunately, I only own my OCs, not any of the ninja or Sensei or Nya. This chapter contains Jay/Nya awesomeness. Oh, and I apologize for my punctuation mistake for the title of **_**Destiny's Bounty**_**. I just learned that the titles of ships are always italicized. Thanks for understanding! **

Illuminate : Chapter 7

3rd Person

Jay sauntered into the game room with his glass of juice and watched as Kai and Zane battled against each other for the high score on their favorite video game.

"Hey guys, you know how that girl Gabriele looked as if she was about to bite Cole's head off a little while ago? Well, when I was in the kitchen, she and Cole walked in. She looked like she was about to pass out." By now, the other two had paused their game and were listening to Jay intently.

"Why do you make that assumption?" Zane inquired.

"Her face was white and she looked half scared, half excited. Also, she was grabbing Cole's arm so strongly that her knuckles were white."

"Interesting. What were they doing in the kitchen?"

"Tonight is Cole's turn to make dinner." Zane and Kai groaned simultaneously.

"Hey, do you think that Gabriele can cook?" Kai asked.

"Let's not get our hopes up," Zane countered. Just then, they all smelled something savory and delicious wafting from the kitchen.

"I don't know what that is, but it smells great!" said Jay enthusiastically.

"Should we go see what the lovely couple is making?" Kai wondered.

"No," Zane replied. "I for one don't want to walk in on whatever they are doing." All of the guys laughed.

Just a little while later, Gabriele called everyone to the table. By then, the delicious smell of garlic and peppers had permeated every room on the ship. Even Nya came out of the control room with only one summons. Tonight she chose to sit next to Jay. He blushed profusely and tried to say something but the entrance of Cole bearing a platter of food made everyone quiet. Gabriele followed him with cups and water for everyone. As Cole gently placed the tray on the table, Gabriele announced dramatically:

"From the kitchen of _Destiny's Bounty _ for your delectation and delight we have Garlic Sauteed Chicken and Peppers over Rice Noodles, prepared by Cole Clays and Gabriele Blackstone." Everyone applauded as Gabriele curtsied and pulled Cole into a bow. Even before they sat down, on opposite sides of the table, the other ninja, Sensei Wu, and Nya were digging in. As Gabriele watched Jay insist on serving Nya and Nya gently blush, it suddenly occurred to her that the two might be in love. However, her attention was quickly pulled back to the conversation around her as everyone started complimentary her and Cole. At one point, Jay asked how she had turned Cole into a good cook.

"The only thing that was wrong with Cole's cooking was that he added too much or everything," she replied. "I had him pick one protein, one spice, and two veggies. To accompany that, I had him choose one grain or starch. With that, anyone can make a good meal."

"After a while, everyone was finally sated. Everyone was happy and content. Nya even had the courage to lean up against Jay. He wrapped his arm around her waist gently. Kai was so comfortable that he fell off of the back of the bench. As he got up, he said,

"I wish you could stay with us, Gabriele. You make dinner so much more… awesome." Her face paled, and she looked at Sensei Wu. He nodded, and she stood up.

"Well, I guess this is the perfect time to tell you. Sensei Wu has asked me to," she closed her eyes for a second, "to become a ninja." The variety of reactions was highly amusing, to Sensei and Cole at least. Kai fell off of the bench again, Zane's system frizzed out for a second, Jay's arm tightened around Nya before he unwrapped himself from her altogether, and Nya grinned from ear to ear.

"Finally, another girl!" she exclaimed. "I haven't been able to talk to another girl in months." Gabriele looked around at everyone. When she had assured herself that they were all happy that she was joining them, she smiled.

"Great. Now, who does the dishes?" she asked. Everyone pointed at Jay. He sighed and slowly got up from the table. Gabriele jumped at the opportunity to ask him about Nya, so she offered to help him. As soon as the door shut behind them, she asked,

"Are you in love with Nya?" He blushed more red than a poppy waving in the sun. "I'll take that as a yes." She chuckled as she walked to the sink and started washing the pots and pans.

"How, how did you know?" he stammered.

"It was quite obvious."

"I thought that it was obvious that I had a crush on her, not that I love her."

"I don't believe in crushes. If you love someone, you love someone. Anything else can be controlled. Since you're twenty, too old for a long lasting crush, and nobody appeared shocked when you put your arm around Nya, I assumed that you were in love."

"You are way too logical," was all that he could say in return. After a second he just started laughing uncontrollably.

"Go get the plates," Gabriele commanded, trying to hold back her own giggles. Jay practically fell through the swinging door to the dining room, still laughing. Nya had already gone to her room, but all of the others stared at Jay like he was crazy.

"What the…" Cole started to ask, but Jay just shook his head. Her tried to breathe deeply, but he just ended up laughing harder. The dishes rattled as he carried them back to the kitchen. He almost dropped the stack onto the countertop.

"Seriously Jay, what is so funny?"

"Here I was thinking that it was some big secret that I'm in love and you haven't been here for an entire day and you've already figured it out," he said through chuckles. He breathed deeply and finally stopped laughing. Gabriele replied,

"I read in a book once that 'love is like a light shining in a dark cave. It can't be hidden.' Your closer friends probably haven't noticed because falling in love is gradual."

"So, Nya doesn't know?" he inquired nervously.

"Probably not."

"Whew. That's a relief."

"So you don't want to tell her?"

"No way! She would probably hate me forever!"

"Okay, okay. I won't tell her. I'm really good at keeping secrets." This wasn't strictly true; Gabriele could only keep important secrets. If she thought that they didn't need to be kept private, then she would tell. This, however, was important enough for her to hold her tongue; for a while at least.

By then, the dishes were all clean. Since Jay had not washed any, she left the drying and putting away to him. Gabriele left the kitchen.

Gabriele's POV

As soon as I left the kitchen I hurried to Nya's room. I had the perfect plan in mind, but I had to make sure of Nya feelings first. This little game that I was going to set up was simply a distraction from what I was feeling. I was not looking forward to sorting through what I felt later. For now, though, I had a few more secrets to uncover. I knocked on Nya's door and she called

"Who is it?"

"Gabriele," I answered. She opened the door almost immediately. Her striking green-blue eyes were rimmed with red, and her short black hair looked mussed, as if she had been running her hands through it.

"Oh Nya, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, why do you ask?" Her innocent tone was somewhat belied by the pile of tissues on her bed and the sniff at the end of sentence.

"Nya, don't try to lie to me, please. Is it something I did?"

"Oh, no. It's, well, it's Jay." At that, she burst into tears again. I pulled Nya into a comforting hug as she sobbed. When she became calm, I asked,

"What did he do?"

"He put his arm around me," she replied, about to sob again.

"Stop!" I commanded. "Why does that make you cry? Don't you love him?" At my command, Nya stopped and stared at me. She sat down on the edge of her bed. After she had taken a few deep breaths, she answered,

"I don't know. I like him, I know that. He's so handsome, and funny, and smart. I wanted to date him; I mean, we went on a date, but then he saved me and I, well, it was different. Have you ever dreamed about your wedding? When you're younger, all of the people are facelss. But then, as you get older, you see yourself in that dress. Well, after my date with Jay, it's been him standing at the altar. And I don't get nervous around him anymore; it's more like a warm, fuzzy feeling. At night, I dream about kissing him. And, worst, I like babies!" I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Seriously! I have always hated babies! They are nothing but snot-filled poop machines, but on my last trip to Jamonicai Village, I saw a baby sleeping on it's mother's back in one of those slings. It was the cutest thing I've every seen. For the rest of the afternoon I couldn't keep myself from dreaming about what it would be like to have my own baby. What is wrong with me!?"

I was laughing so hard I could hardly stand up.

"Girl, you've got it bad."

"What?" Nya asked.

"You are madly in love," I replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah There is nothing else that can make a girl act that ridiculously."

"What am I going to do? I can't tell him."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't love me! I mean, he has a crush on me, but I don't think that he is in love with me."

"So, I shouldn't say anything to him?"

"No!"

"Alright. But I don't think that this is as big of a deal as you're making it."

"Just promise me that you won't say anything to him."

"Of course. I won't say a word." Nya smiled gratefully at me. Ihad no intention of saying anything to Jay; Kai, Zane, and Cole were another matter. Suddenly, she jumped up.

"You need some more clothes, don't you? That's why you came, and all I've been doing is complaining about my feelings. Here are some pajamas. I don't know…" She left her sentence unfinished as she surveryed me. The grin faded from my face and I sighed. I knew that I couldn't' fit into Nya's clothes. Her dresses and outfits were pretty clingy, and she was lithe and willowy. My figure was, well, lumpy. I think that Nya could tell that I was bothered because she looked worried before she said,

"It's no problem. I can have the _Bounty_ fly to your house tomorrow so that we can pick up your stuff." I smiled a little at that. I already liked Nya. She was sensible and selfless, from what I could see. But I was still worried about my future.

"Nya, what if I fail at being a ninja? What if I can't learn?"

"Gabriele, my grandmother told me right before she died that 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called "present."' Tomorrow and its problems will come soon enough," Nya replied tenderly.

"Thanks, Nya." I stood up and hugged her. "We should both get to bed now. I know one problem that tomorrow will bring: training. I'm going to need all of the energy that I can get for that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the lovely reviews everyone, but since this story isn't going viral, I know that it's missing something. Please tell me what it is! Thanks again. Oh, for those of you who cringed at the ending of Chapter 5, here is Cole's redeeming moment. **

Illuminate : Chapter 8

Gabriele's POV

After I had changed into Nya's comfortable pajamas, I lay on my new bed, just trying to process my day.

"Oh help," was all that I could think of to say. Just as I was about to break down entirely, someone knocked on my door.

"It's Cole," a voice called out.

"Come in," I replied. I heard the door open and the earth ninja walked in.

"Are you all right?" he inquired anxiously.

"Yeah," I said as I forced myself to sit up.

"Um, okay. Anyway, I just came to see if there was anything that you needed."

"No, I'm fine. I practically live out of my backpack, so I've got everything that I need for tonight in there."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Nya said that she would fly the _Bounty_ to my house tomorrow."

"All right." There was a long pause until Cole asked, trying to sound casual,

"So, what were you and Jay laughing about?" I giggled at the mention of that conversation and Cole frowned slightly. _Is he jealous? No, it can't be. Why would he be jealous of Jay?_

"Jay is in love with Nya, and though he thought that it was a secret, I found out as soon as I saw them together. He was laughing at the irony."

"Oh. Wait, he's in love? I thought that he just had a crush on her."

"Trust me, he is definitely in love."

"But what about…"

"Nya?" I interrupted. "She's head over heels for him."

"Really? That's great!" I laughed at the delighted look on his face.

"The only problem is that they don't want anyone to know. By the way, don't tell anyone what I just told you."

"How did you find out?"

"I caught them in a moment of weakness. But, I have a plan. Do you know Shakespeare?" He shook his head. "Romeo and Juliet? Hamlet? Macbeth?" He shook his head again at each example. I sighed. _Seriously?_ "Okay, Shakespeare was a playwr… a person who writes plays, and in one of his plays, a couple gets their friends together by talking about how much the guy loves the girl in front of the girl, and how much the girl loves the guy in front of the guy. That's what we're going to do for Jay and Nya."

"How in Ninjago are we going to do that?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to think about that." With one simple question, Cole had shown me all of the deficiencies in my plan.

"Okay," he replied, oblivioius to my dismay. I quicly thought of a question to ask Cole to distract myself from my overload of emotions.

"Is Nya emotional a lot of the time?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Um, no reason." If Nya was not emotional, then she probably would not want anybody to know that she was crying. After a while, I remembered why Cole.

"Thanks for coming to check on me, Cole."

"Oh yeah, you're welcome. And don't be afraid about becoming a ninja. We are all glad that you're here." I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them to me.

"You won't be when I start training." I knew that I was going to suck. Normally I would try to find a more articulate word, but I just couldn't muster up the energy to think of anything better.

"No, we will," he said.

"Sure," I retorted. I knew that if he looked at me he would notice the tears in my eyes, so I laid my head down on my knees. He was more observant than I thought than I thought.

"Gabriele, please do not cry. Sensei didn't pick you because of your physical ablilities, but that doesn't mean that you won't be a great ninja. Remember what he said? 'You have a gift that needs to be harnessed.' You are special. So you might not do well the first time on the course. Who cares? It took Kai a ridiculous amount of time to finish." I had about a million objections, but all Cole was trying to do was make me feel better. The least I could do was pretend to be happier.

"Thank Cole. I feel better now." I didn't lift up my face because I could only lie when I wasn't looking at anyone.

"Okay, goodnight then." Instead of walking to the door, however, Cole walked over to me and hugged my shoulders. At that I couldn't help but sob. All of my willpower dissolved at his friendly touch. I criend into my knees for a while and Cole hugged me the whole time. Finally, I stopped.

"Thanks Cole. I really do feel better this time," I said looking up at him. I smiled as I wiped my eyes. I'm sure that I looked hideous, but Cole smiled in reply.

"Good. Sleep well," he said as he walked out the door. I slowly uncurled and laid flat on my back. I sighed. Before I could even start to think about my crazy day, I fell asleep.

Cole's POV

After dinner, Gabriele disappeared into the kitchen with Jay. A few minutes later, after Nya had run to her room, he burst out of the kitchen laughing hysterically. I was going to follow him back into the kitchen," but I didn't want to pry into whatever Gabriele and Jay were doing. After a while I decided that it would seem natural enough if I went in, but Gabriele had already left. Jay was left, finishing up the drying of the dishes.

"Hey," I called.

"Oh, hey."

"Where's Gabriele?"

"I'm not sure, but if you do end up dating her, you're going to have to watch you're step. She's as smart as a whip."

"Just stop it." _Does he ever know when to let something go?_ As I passed the game room, I saw that they guys were playing my favorite video game. They were trying to beat my high score! All thought fled as I rushed in to save my gaming reputation. Later, I heard Gabriele call,

"Goodnight," to Nya. I was about to jump up and follow her, but a new level started. By the time that the level was finished, Gabriele had gone to her room. I gave up the controller to Kai and walked towards the former spare bedroom. As soon as she let me in, I saw that she was lying flat on the bed.

_Oh no! Is something wrong? _"Are you all right?" She said yes, but I wasn't convinced. She pushed herself up and looked at me. Her bright eyes were dim, and looked very tired. Her smile was gone, and she looked overwhelmed.

"Um, okay. Anyway, I just came to see if there was anything that you needed." Not really, of course, but I couldn't say that I came for no reason. She told me that she had everything that she needed. I didn't want to leave while she looked so miserable, so I asked another question. I don't really know what I asked. There was an awkward another question. I decided to risk asking what she and Jay had been laughing about . She giggled. I frowned.

_Jay isn't that funny. What could he have done that made her laugh like that? How come Jay gets to be the first to hear her laugh?_ She looked at me for a second like she didn't understand something, but then she told me,

"Jay is in love with Nya, and though he thought that it was a secret I found out as soon as I saw them together. He was laughing at the irony."

_She wasn't laughing! _ "Oh." Then I realized something. "Wait, he's in love? I thought that he just had a crush on her."

"Trust me, he is definitely in love." If Jay was in love with Nya, then that meant that he won't fall in love with Gabriele.

"But what about…"

"Nya?" _Jay was right. She is smart._ "She is head over heels for him."

"Really? Well, that's great!" _Gabriele can be mine now. Wait, what? What am I thinking? _I forced myself to focus as she told me her plan for getting Jay and Nya together. It kind of made sense, but I wondered how she was going to get both of them to hear. When I asked her, the light that had started to glow in her eyes faded away. She quickly answered though, so I pretended to not notice. After a while, she thanked me for coming. Suddenly, I realized why she was so sad.

"Don't be afraid about becoming a ninja. We're all glad that you're here." At that she curled into a ball with her chin on her knees.

"You won't be when I start training." Her voice, normally so upbeat and happy, was so bitter and sad that I could only imagine why she was so hurt. All I could think of to say was,

"No, we will."

"Sure," she retorted and hid her face. I tried comforting her by telling her about how long it took Kai to finish the course, but she kept her face buried. She lied to me about how she felt:

"Thanks Cole. I feel better now." I knew that it was an invitation to leave, but I just couldn't leave without seeing her smile.

_What else can I do? _ Then I remembered. One time when I broke a promise, my mother reprimanded me. She said,

"Actions speak louder than words." I knew exactly what to do, but I was scared. What if I offended her? I gathered up all of my courage, walked over to her, and hugged her around the shoulders. She completely broke down. She sobbed and shook. I was a little frightened, but I held onto her the whole time. Pretty quickly the storm ended. She said,

"Thanks Cole. I really do feel better this time." She looked up at me and smiled. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but she looked happy and grateful. I had finally gotten her to smile.

"Good. Sleep well," I said. I left. The guys tried to get me to rejoin their gaming battle, but I decided to go to sleep early. I dreamed of smiles and sunsets.


	9. Chapter 9

**Greetings to you all again! We are on to Chapter 9. Yeah! Please tell me what you think about my story.**

Illuminate : Chapter 9

Gabriele's POV

When I woke up, I jumped out of bed, excited about becoming a ninja, but then I fell right back into bed. I didn't want to show any of the ninja or Nya how bad I was going to be.

_But if I never try, then I'll never get better._

"I'm going to go out there and I'm going to do the best that I can. If I fail, then I can only get better, right?" I asked myself. I was about to put yesterday's outfit back on when Nya stuck her head into the room.

"Hey Gabby, what's your address? We need to get you some clothes suitable for living up here."

"Wait, what time is it?"

"8 o'clock. Why?"

"Oh my gosh! I never sleep this late!"

"Your body probably needed the extra rest to deal with the unexpected stress and emotional overload that you experienced yesterday. I slept late myself. Anyway, the boys are training, and I need to know where to steer the ship. Come on, nobody will see you in your pajamas if we got to the control room quickly."

"Um, okay." It was then that I realized how inappropriate it was for Cole to be in my room last night. I hoped that nobody had seen us. However, the door had been open, so that made it less wrong, I guessed. My thoughts were interrupted by Nya's chatter. I listened intently because these were all details about my new partners. When we reached the control room, Nya said,

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't asked you a single question like 'Did you sleep well?' or 'Do you need anything?' I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Cole came to check on me last night." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I blushed furiously in light of my previous thoughts. Nya stared at me for a second, but I held her gaze, trying to prove my innocence.

_What do I have to prove? I'm telling the truth. Why am I embarrassed? _

Nya asked, "What did he do that is making you blush?" My eyes widened in shock as I answered quickly,

"Nothing! It's just that I realized how inappropriate it was for us to be in a bedroom together. The door was open, though."

"Okay. I believe you," Nya answered with a smile. "One thing, though. Don't break his heart, Gabriele." She moved to program the ship's new coördinates.

"What?" I asked, pretending to be confused. I knew what Nya was assuming.

"Don't break his heart," she repeated.

"I don't plan on it. He's my hero, not my crush."

"Are you sure?" Nya wondered.

"Yes. He doesn't feel anything for me, I'm sure." He was one of the most loved guys in Ninjago. He could have almost any girl that he wanted, just for the asking. Why would he like me? Besides, he had only known that I existed for about seventeen hours. If people get crushes that quickly, those crushes are based on looks. I knew that I wasn't that pretty, and I was fat. An incredible strong ninja like him who was so ripped deserved a girl who was perfect.

_Wait, did I just think "he's ripped"? Why would I care? _

"What color are his eyes?" I heard Nya ask.

"Gray fading to blue," I answered automatically. The I slapped myself. Nya turned to me and smirked.

"Now are you sure that you don't have a crush on him?"

"Yes!" I retorted. Nya's question about his eyes had triggered a rapid succession of images of Cole. I told myself to stop, and my body responded with the feel of his arms around me last night. This was really getting annoying. I forced myself to focus on the scenery flying pas the large control room window. Suddenly, I realized just how late it was.

"Oh! I need to go change!" I said and rushed off to my new room. I quickly put on my former outfit. When I thought about my conversation with Nya, my cheeks burned.

_Why do her questions bother me? They are unfounded and ridiculous. I will ignore them. _

With that resolution, my cheeks seemed to return to normal. I straightened my shoulders and smiled.

_I can do this._

Cole's POV

I woke up to a bucket of cold water being poured on me.

"What the…" I yelled as I jumped up.

"Good morning," Jay called.

"Salutations," greeted Zane. Kai just grinned evilly. It was him who had thrown the bucket of water on me.

"Pleasant dreams?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"You were smiling in your sleep."

"And?"

"You never smile when you sleep. Did it have something to do with hugging Gabriele last night?" I stiffened. Both Jay and Zane turned to Kai.

"You didn't tell us about that!" yelled Jay.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to remain calm.

"When I was walking to our room to get some cheat codes," said Kai.

"Hey!" interjected Jay.

"I thought I heard someone crying," Kai continued, shooting a glance Jay's way.

"It sounded like it was coming from the spare room. I walked over, and I looked through the open door. There was Cole, acting all sweet and comforting, hugging Gabriele as she cried." There was silence for a second, but then Jay said,

"Dude, you're moving really fast, but I've got to admire your style." By now I was furious, but I forced myself to remain calm on the outside.

"Kai, that is not true. Jay, I was not 'making a move' on her."

"Then what were you doing?" inquired Zane. I summoned up all the dignity I could while standing in sopping wet pajamas.

"I went to Gabriele's room to see if there was anything she needed." Kai interrupted me with a cough that sounded like "goodnight kiss." "We talked for a while, and I learned that she is scared about becoming a ninja. She is afraid that she is not strong enough to learn to fight. I tried to comfort her by telling her about how many times Kai failed the course, but she was still sad. I didn't want to leave until she was happy, so I hugged her around her shoulders. She was sitting on her bed, with her knees pulled up to her chest. When I hugged her, she started crying. When she stopped crying, I left. There is nothing wrong with," I finished. Then I decided to get back at Jay.

"You have no room to talk, Jay. When's the last time that you did something with Nya? You accuse me of moving too fast in a relationship that I don't have when you're practically ignoring Nya! Do you still have a crush on her?" Jay turned white, then red.

"No."

"Then why were you holding yesterday?" Kai asked. Jay was literally in a corner now. I had walked towards him until he was pressed into the corner in between the door and the wall. Jay mumbled something.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I. Love. Her!" he yelled. "Are you happy now? I am in love with Nya." I took a step back. Jay had drawn himself up to his full height and was practically yelling in my face. I don't think that any of us had ever seen Jay this angry or powerful. He looked like he could disintegrate us with a glance.

"At least I can admit my feelings like a man," he said. Just then, someone knocked on the door. I pulled Jay out of the corner and opened the door, expecting to see Sensei ready to reprimand us for shouting, but Gabriele was standing there, practically beaming and pushing Nya into our room. I was shocked. I had never seen Nya like this. She looked like she was about to laugh and cry at the same time. Jay looked at her like she was a ghost.

"Did you hear?" he asked in a hoarse whisper. She nodded. Suddenly, she dashed away, pushing Gabriele out of her way. Jay dashed after her. I tried to stop him at first, but he was surprisingly too strong for me.

"What the heck just happened?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Well, that was unexpected," Gabriele commented, "But that was much better than anything that I could have planned."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everybody! I'm super excited about this chapter. This is where I really start going. Please review if you like/hate this story. I need to know on what I can improve. Thanks! By the way, this chapter is pretty long, compared to my other chapters. **

Illuminate : Chapter 10

Gabriele's POV

After I changed into my clothes, I met Nya in the control room. I had passed the deck on my way, and none of the guys were there.

"Hey Nya, nobody was training. Where do you think they are?"

"Oh, I hope that they aren't playing video games. They are going to be in so much trouble if that's what they're doing." We hurried to the game room, but no one was there. We tried the dining room, the kitchen, the hold, but they weren't in any of those places.

"Where are they?" Nya wondered. "We've checked everywhere!"

"Hey, what about their room?" I suggested.

"Of course!" she replied. As we got closer, I heard Cole talking to someone.

"You have no room to talk, Jay. When's the last time you did something with Nya? You accuse me of moving too fast in a relationship that I don't have when you're practically ignoring Nya!" I put my finger to my mouth and gestured for Nya to follow me as I crept closer. She was slightly pale, but she nodded.

"Do you still have a crush on her?" Cole demanded.

"No," Jay answered. Nya looked like she was about to pass out. Kai angrily asked,

"Then why were you holding her yesterday?" I thought that I heard a mumble through the door, and I heard Cole ask,

"What was that?" Jay responded loudly and powerfully, pronouncing each word.

"I. Love. Her!" he shouted. Nya gasped. She looked heart-broken and happy at the same time.

"Did he…" she whispered. Before I could answer, Jay said,

"I am in love with Nya. At least I can admit my feelings like a man." Nya seemed frozen in place. I knocked on the door. Cole opened it and seemed shocked to see me. I smiled in return and pushed Nya into the room. She and Jay stared at each other like there was no one else that mattered.

"Did you hear?" Jay asked. Nya nodded. She turned and ran, pushing me out of the way. I had to grab the bedpost to keep myself up. Cole tried to hold Jay back, but Jay simply brushed him off and ran after Nya.

"What the heck just happened?" he asked.

"Well, that was unexpected, bu that was much better than anything I could have planned," I responded. Then I took a good look at Cole.

"Why are you wearing wet pajamas?" I asked. He blushed slightly.

"Kai felt the need to wake me up with a bucket of cold water," he said. I giggled as I walked over to the bed. When I pushed my hand into it, water bubbled up.

"All right, I know one thing that we'll be doing today. Everybody needs to strip the sheets off of their beds and bring them up on deck. Cole, bring your mattress, and Kai, you bring Jay's sheets." They all stared at me as if I was crazy.

"Why?" asked Zane.

"To wash the sheets, obviously. When was the last time that they were washed? Don't answer that." The guys just stood there.

"Come on! The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish." Finally Cole walked over to his bed and started pulling up the sheets from his bed.

"Good," I praised. "Hurry up."

By the time that Kai, Zane, and Cole had gotten their sheets and mattress up on deck, I had found two barrels, filled them with water, added soap to one of them, and found a rope to hang the sheets on to dry.

"What took you guys so long?" I asked. As Cole opened his mouth to answer, I said,

"It's rhetorical." When I'm trying to work, especially if it's housework, I get really business-like and snappy. "Just dump the sheets here and wash your feet."

"What?" they all asked.

"Go wash your feet, then come back and jump on the mattress to get the water out."

"Wait. We're going to jump on the bed?" Kai asked.

"Well duh."

"Yeah!" he shouted as he fist pumped the air. "We get to jump on Cole's bed!"

"Hop to it!" I commanded, and they all scurried off. Kai was back in a matter of seconds, and he literally vaulted from one end of the deck to the mattress at the other end.

"Woohoo!" he yelled as he landed. The water came gushing out. Zane dashed out and stepped carefully on the bed.

"Whatcha waiting for?" called Kai from midair. "Jump!" Zane grinned and leapt up. When he landed, the water landed, the water squished and gurgled. I giggled at the look of childish delight on both Kai and Zane's faces they bounced.

"They look like they're having fun," commented Cole from behind me.

"Why don't you go join them?" I suggested.

"No, it would be too crowded," he replied.

"Okay, but that means that you're going to have to help me. I'm glad that you kept your pajamas on."

"Why?" he asked.

"You're going to climb into that barrel and mush the sheets around so that they get clean." At the look on his face, I burst out laughing. Not a dainty, girlish giggle, but a full, hearty laugh. He looked like he was trying to fight a smile.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said. At that, I laughed even harder. He succumbed and laughed with me. His laughter was deep and powerful; the kind that vibrates your insides and tickles you so that you laugh even harder. After we both stopped laughing, I asked him if he could give me a leg up.

"What?"

"Well, you didn't think that I wasn't going to be doing something too, did you? After you mix the sheets with the soap, then I'll mix them with the clear water. Now, just kneel down like you're proposing next to this barrel and I'll step on your leg to get into this barrel." The barrel was almost as tall as I was. Cole looked surprised at my simile, but he kneeled. I stepped up and into the cold water.

"Oh my gosh! This water is really cold!" I yelled. "Hurry up, Cole! Start washing sheets!" He dumped the sheets into his barrel and jumped in. After a couple of seconds of mushing up the sheets, he said,

"You must know that this is the strangest that I've ever done." I laughed again.

_This is probably the strangest thing _I've _ever done. _ I thought. _At least, one of the strangest._ I looked at Kai and Zane. They were still jumping, but now they were having competitions to show who could jump the highest or do the coolest tricks in midair. Then I realized that nobody had seen Jay or Nya.

"Hey, where do you think Jay and Nya are?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Cole responded. "They'll come out eventually.

"Okay." I wanted to go meddle, but they needed to work out their own problems by themselves. I looked over at Cole. He was gathering up the sheets. He tossed them over to me like they were as light as a feather. The weight of all the wet fabric hitting me knocked me underwater. As soon as I went under, a shock of cold went through me. I quickly popped back up, gasping for breath. I was about to start laughing, but the look of horror, shock, pain, and shame in Cole's eyes made me freeze.

"Hey Cole, what's wrong?"

"Gabriele, are you okay?" was all he said in reply. Every emotion I read in his face was doubled in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What's the matter?"

"You could have died. You went completely under. What if you hadn't been able to push through the sheets? I would have killed you. I would have never been able to see you again." I could only stare in shock.

"Woah, man, you just need to calm down. Cole, relax. Nothing bad happened, and worrying about what could have happened isn't going to help anybody. You know what my mom told me once, when I was worried about something coming up? 'Learn from the past, anticipate the future, but live in the now.' It's not a big deal, Cole. Besides, I needed a shower." Cole didn't respond to my little joke. What else could I do? Then I thought about last night and how he helped me. The least that I could do was return the favor. I jumped out of my barrel, walked over to his and jumped in with him. It took a lot of arm strength for me to get myself in, but I did it. Even though there was only a couple of inches between the two of us in the barrel, he refused to look at me. I grabbed his chin and forced him to look me in the eye.

"Cole, you did absolutely nothing wrong. It was on accident, and nothing bad happened. It's no big deal. Do you understand?" He still did not respond, so I hugged him. It wasn't like his gentle, around-the-shoulders hug. I threw my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. As soon as I touched him, I saw a vision of a scared little boy with black hair standing by the bedside of a woman who was no longer breathing.

"Don't go, Mommy," cried the boy. "Don't leave me! No, Mommy, no!" I hugged Cole tighter, trying to send comfort to that little boy hidden deep inside. Suddenly, he hugged me back. I had this strange feeling, like we were supporting each other, bolstering the other's courage and giving them energy. It was like we were made to be together. It was then that I realized just how strange we must have looked: Two almost complete strangers, soaking wet, standing in a barrel full of water and hugging each other. I hurriedly jumped out of the soapy barrel. Cole looked at me for a second and simply said,

"Thank you," but that simple phrase conveyed everything that I wanted to hear. I smiled at him, and thankfully he smiled back.

"Hey," I said quietly. "I know a perfect prank to pull on Kai and Zane. It's going to be a perfect payback."

"I'm so in," he replied with a mischievous grin. _There we go,_ I thought. _He's happy now. _I don't know why that comforted me so much.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everybody! I forgot to do the "I don't own Ninjago" thing again. Here it is: I don't own Ninjago, just my OC. I watched the music video for "Some Nights" by Fun, and I am sad and joyful at the same time. If you've ever felt that on a song, (or you want to tell me what you think of this story) please review! Also, I have a new characters viewpoint for this chapter, and it contains some of my best Jay/Nya! **

Illuminate : Chapter 11

Nya's POV

When I left the guy's room, I ran as if my life depended on it. I felt like mercury pouring down an incline plane. I had to go somewhere where I could think. I didn't know if I was happy or sad, and I can't stand not knowing. As I dashed up on deck, I looked frantically for a place to hide. The highest place that I could get to was on top of the house that was built into our ship. As soon as I leapt onto the lower roof, I heard Jay run onto the deck and call for me. I tried to climb up quietly, but my foot hit the gutter, and it banged against the wall. Jay vaulted up onto the second roof and then helped me up.

When I had gotten my footing, though, he did not let go of my hand. I didn't resist; I needed something to hold onto. My head felt like it had been turned upside down, my stomach felt like a pretzel, and my heart felt like it had been broken, then repaired with pure gold. Black started to creep in to border my vision, so I dropped down to the roof. I held onto both Jay and the edging of the roof. For some reason, I felt like there was energy flowing into me from both sources of support. I could sometimes feel this sensation when I was working on my samurai suit. However, I had never felt it from another person before. Giving the metal one last squeeze for courage, I let go of it and turned to Jay. I thought that I had gotten my insane emotions under some semblance of control until I saw his face. He looked hopeful, and scared, but there was something else there that I had never seen before. It was confidence. All of my doubts and reserves fell away.

"Jay," I asked, "do you really love me?"

"Didn't I yell it loud enough?" he replied. I giggled in reply.

"I heard you, but I want you tell me, to my face." I looked him in the eye. His hazel-gold eyes shone with a warmth that I wasn't used to seeing. He returned my stare without fear as he said,

"I love you, Nya." There was only one thing that I could say in return.

"I love you too, Jay." His face lit up with joy.

"Really?" he wondered.

"Yes. I love you more than anything." He slightly, but then he moved back.

_Was he going to…? _My thought was interrupted by Jay leaning forward and quickly kissing me. As he pulled back, I saw that he was blushing, but he looked supremely happy. I felt a grin on my face as well. I wasn't going to tell Jay this, but that had been my first kiss. It felt even better than I ever dreamed it would feel. Suddenly, we both heard a noise. We looked down over the edge of the roof. Gabriele was down there, moving the rain barrels that were at the bottom of each gutter. As we watched, she filled them with water and strung what appeared to be a clothesline from one end of the deck to the other. Cole Kai, and Zane came out soon after, carrying bundles and a mattress.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked. Just a second later, she said "It's rhetorical." Jay turned to me and whispered,

"What are they doing?" I shrugged.

"Just dump the sheets here and go wash your feet," Gabriele commanded.

"What?" all the guys chorused.

"Go wash your feet, then come back and jump on the mattress to get the water out."

_That's what she's going to do on her first day here? Wash sheets and clean mattresses?_ I was just about to explain to Jay what she was doing when I heard Kai ask,

"Wait. We're going to jump on the bed?"

"Well duh," replied Gabriele.

"Yeah! We get to jump on Cole's bed!" I could only imagine the look of childish excitement on his face as I watched him fist pump the air.

"Hop to it!" Gabriele commanded. Kai, Zane, and Cole went back inside. I turned to Jay and said,

"I think that she's going to wash all the bedsheets." Jay seemed surprised.

"Why? We're supposed to train! Sensei will not be happy about that."

"Hey, where is Sensei?" I asked.

"He's probably meditating," Jay replied.

"Should we go check on him?" I started to worry.

"Relax, Nya. I'm sure that he's fine. Come on; don't you enjoy spending time with me? We haven't been alone in forever." I blushed.

"Of course I love spending time with you, Jay, but Sensei Wu is like a grandfather to me. I don't want anything to happen to him." Jay let go of my hand.

_Why did he let go? Doesn't he believe me?_ I held out my hand to him again, hoping that he would take it, but instead he pulled me into his arms. I let out a relieved giggle.

"What?" he asked as he stroked my hair.

"I thought that you didn't believe me," I whispered back.

"Of course I believe you, but it would have been awkward if I kept holding on to your hand as I hugged you."

"You're right. I'm sorry that I doubted you," I replied.

"You don't need to apologize for anything. You're perfect."

"Really?" His words send such a warm rush of happiness and gratitude flow through me.

"Yeah, you're constantly there for us. You practically live in the control room, and you know everything about our enemies or anything we need to know. And Nya, I know that we don't thank you enough, but at least I notice." Now I was crying. I had truly thought that no one cared about how much time I spent making sure that the guys could fly (or drive) in and save the day. Jay seemed kind of surprised, but he let me cry into his shoulder. Luckily he had decided to wear his older ninja suit, the one without the metal on the shoulders. My emotions cooled pretty quickly, however, so I released Jay. He looked pretty clueless as to why I had started crying, so I said,

"Sorry Jay, but I didn't think that anybody noticed how hard I work, and my emotions were already heated up, so when you said all of that nice stuff, it kind of pushed me over the edge, so to speak."

"Oh, okay," he said, now looking more relieved. I heard a big splash, and I looked over the edge of the roof and saw Cole standing in a barrel and looking at another barrel that appeared to be full of the dirty sheets that I had seen earlier. Gabriele popped up out of the full barrel, and looked like she was about to laugh until she looked at Cole. I looked up at Jay, put my fingers to my lips and pointed down. We both laid flat on the roof and watched the scene that was playing out before us.

"Hey Cole, what's wrong?" she asked with laughter in her voice.

"Gabriele, are you okay?" he asked in return. His voice sounded painful. I looked to Jay questioningly, but he just shrugged. Cole usually didn't show any emotion, much less hurt.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What's the matter?" I was just as confused as Gabby.

"You could have died. You went completely under. What if you hadn't have been able to push through the sheets? I would have killed you. I would have never been able to see you again." Jay's mouth was open in shock. Gabriele was almost as surprised.

"Woah, man, you need to calm down. Cole, relax. Nothing bad happened, and worrying about what could have happened isn't going to help anybody. You know what my mom told me when I had something coming up? 'Learn from the past, anticipate the future, but live in the now.' It's not a big deal, Cole. Besides, I needed a shower."

It was then that I realized how much that I admired Gabriele. She had had her entire life changed, and she comes on board and immediately starts making herself useful. Even though the rest of us are doing the most uncharacteristic things, she stays steady and manages to make jokes. That was impressive. Cole didn't seem to be positively affected by Gabriele's speech. I was pretty sure that Gabriele was too determined to leave it at that, so I wasn't surprised when she pulled herself out of her barrel and walked over to Cole. I was exceedingly surprised when she jumped into the barrel with Cole.

"Is she going to…" my sentence was left unfinished as she grabbed his chin firmly and forced him to look at her. It seemed almost like Cole was a little child who had been caught by his mother while stealing cookies.

"Cole, you did absolutely nothing wrong. It was an accident, and nothing bad happened. It's no big deal. Do you understand?" He still did not respond.

_Don't do it, Gabby, don't kiss him._ She hugged him firmly. I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat up. If Jay hadn't have been incapacitated from shock, I think that he would have wondered why I was relieved. However, he was about to faint.

"Jay?" He still stared at Cole and Gabriele. "Jay?" Still nothing. "Jay!" I finally got him to look up. He blinked a couple of times and sat up as well.

"Why did you sigh?" he asked.

"I didn't want her to kiss him."

"Would she really have done that?"

"I don't think so, but you never know what a person will do when they're in love."

"But Gabriele said that love is a gradual, and why would it be such a big deal if she kissed Cole?"

"I don't think that Cole's ready for something that dramatic yet; right now he still needs a special kind of friend. Wait, did Gabriele talk to you about love?"

"Yeah, when we did the dishes last night."

"That was right before she came talked to me about love!" I looked at Jay, and he stared back at me. At the exact same time, we started laughing. We had to cover our mouths so that no one down below could hear us.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"As soon as we walked into the kitchen, she asked me if I was in love with you. I was pretty shocked because I had been in love with you for a long time, but Gabriele had figured it out within an hour of knowing us. I thought that that was really funny. Then I… finished the dishes." One of the best things about Jay was that he was not a great liar. He had started turning red.

"Jay, what did you say?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"I don't want to say." I glared at him. "Fine. I told her to not tell you because, oh, do I really have to tell you?"

"Spit it out," I ordered.

"I was afraid that you'd hate me," he replied. I giggled, and he looked up at me with his sad puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but that's exactly what I said to Gabby." Jay made no reply. He was just staring at me like I was the most amazing, priceless treasure in the world. And I stared right back. In the light of the warm morning sun, his auburn hair shone gold, and that brought out the gold in his hazel eyes. His strong face was sweetened with a soft smile that I knew was for me. I leaned in unconsciously and grabbed his hand. His grin spread even more at that. He leaned closer to me, and we kissed again. This time it was softer, more tender, and somehow it meant more to me. It was at that moment that I felt like I wasn't human anymore. Jay and I, together, were something more. Unfortunately, it was only a feeling, and as a human, I still needed oxygen to stay alive, and I definitely did not want to die today.


	12. Chapter 12

Illuminate : Chapter 12

**Gabriele's POV**

Cole and I had planned the prank perfectly. All that we needed to do now was put it into action.

"Kai? Zane? Can you come over here for a second?" I called sweetly. Kai flipped gracefully off of the mattress, and Zane quickly ran over.

"Yeah, Gabriele?" Kai asked.

"Did you guys get all the water out of the mattress?" I asked. As they answered, I watched Cole carry the barrel of soapy water up behind them.

"That's great, guys. Now, can you carry some sheets to the clothesline?"

"Sure," said Kai.

"Of course," replied Zane.

"Okay, let me get them out." As I leaned over to pull some sheets from my barrel, Cole lifted his barrel above his head and dumped it on Kai and Zane. Those poor guys didn't know what hit them.

"Oh yeah!" I yelled. "Ultimate payback!" I high-fived Cole. Kai and Zane were pretty angry, but then they laughed.

"Well played," Zane complimented me. I curtsied and replied,

"Thank you, kind sir. Seriously though, I do need you guys to help me, just not with the sheets. Cole, pick up that mattress and get it off of the deck. Go put it back on your bed. Kai, Zane, you guys go get six scrub brushes." The boys all dashed off.

_I can't believe that they actually listen to me. _I started pulling out the wet sheets and hanging them up on the clothesline. Once again, it took them forever to do those simple things. I had hung up everything by the time they came back.

"Good, you guys are back. Cole, can you dump out this barrel on the deck over there?" I asked, gesturing to the other end of the ship.

"Sure," he replied. When he came back, I inquired,

"Kai, did you get the scrub brushes?"

"No, but Zane did."

"Whatever. Zane, give Kai and Cole two brushes each. You keep two for yourself. Now take some rope and tie the brushes to your feet. You're going to skate the deck clean."

"Like roller blading?" asked Kai "or ice skating?" added Zane.

"Exactly!" With any luck, the boys could get the deck sparkling by the time I finished cooking lunch. Cole had turned around and was trying to walk away.

"Cole, where are you going?"

"Um, I was, going to go train," he said.

"But we're cleaning the training deck. Come on, tie on your scrub brushes."

"But I…" his objection died away as I put my hands my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"Why do I have to help? Zane and Kai can do it. I'll look silly."

"You ditched the last job, and you're not going to look that silly." He simply glared at me. I giggled. Cole took forever to put his scrub brushes on. By the time he stood up, the others were already scrubbing the deck.

"Come on, Cole!" they called. He tried to shuffle forwards, but the soap on the deck make sure that he didn't get very far.

"Cole, try to glide," I called.

"How am I supposed to glide?" he yelled back. I sighed. He really was stubborn. I walked over to him.

"Okay, Cole, lean over slightly," I instructed. "Act like you're about to start running. Then, instead of picking up your feet, push them forward. Swing your arms as if you're running and it will give you momentum. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess," he replied.

"Okay then. Go." He followed my example, and soon he was actually moving. Before I could turn around and go inside to cook lunch, however, he lost his balance and fell.

"Cole, are you alright?" I yelled as I slid over to him.

"Yes," he answered as he tried to get back up. He fell again.

"Here," I said as I offered him my hand and started to move again. He kept his eyes on the ground as he pushed his legs forward. I could see the determination etched into his face. This time, as he slid across the wood planks, his balance was perfect. Although he was moving, I could see a core of immovable stone flickering beneath his muscles. It was like he was turning into his element. I could have stood there forever, watching Cole, but the burning sun on my skin reminded me of the time. I reluctantly went inside to make lunch.

**Cole's POV**

I couldn't even begin to think about what I felt when Gabriele first hugged me. In her embrace, I remembered the one moment that I had always tried to reject, push down, and keep out of my mind. It was when my mother had died, and I knew. But this time, my feelings could not be suppressed. They threatened to completely overwhelm me until Gabriele squeezed me even tighter. Suddenly, I wasn't alone in my pain. A warmth spread through me, and a picture popped into my head. The picture was of a sunrise. The pale light of the sun ran across the cold earth, revealing every bump or cup in the soil. As the sun rose higher, the dirt seemed smoother, more full of life. It was almost like I was trying to tell myself something. I was the earth, cold and rough, until the sun came and revealed all of my problems and smoothed me out. The sun could only be Gabriele. Her very presence gave me energy and happiness, and when she smiled, oh gosh, it made me feel different, like I wanted her to smile forever. Maybe, just maybe, I did have a crush on Gabriele. She was the most strangely amazing person I had ever known. Too soon she jumped out and started to blush. I wanted to describe all that I had felt, but for some reason, it was like she already knew.

"Thank you," I said, trying to convey. Suddenly, she started talking about a payback prank that we could play on Kai and Zane. My mischievous side came out and I grinned. She stared at me for moment, but then she quickly shook her head and started explaining her idea to me.

**Gabriele's POV**

When I went inside, the darkness made me blink. It was a stark contrast to the midday sun outside. My mind replayed my morning over and over. I was happy. The catastrophe of my first day of training had been averted. As I thought, my hands were starting to work. There wasn't much food in the pantry or refrigerator.

_ I'll have to get Nya to steer the _Bounty _to a town. _Since they did have bread and cheese, I started to make grilled cheese sandwiches. My thoughts drifted towards Cole. He made me feel, well, different. It was like just being around him made me feel secure and safe. When he smiled it was like I could never be sad or worried. I still didn't think that I had a crush on him, though. It's too cliché. But when I thought about when he held my hand, and when I hugged him (my cheeks burned at the thought) and when he was gliding across the deck, I wasn't sure. He was so strong, and his muscles were huge to show it. He was a lot more mature than the guys that I knew, so much so that he really needed to loosen up. The best part of him, though, was his eyes. They were striking bright blue calmed by gray. If he was trying to hide his emotions with a scowl, his eyes showed what he really felt. I had caught myself staring into his eyes today, but I turned away pretty quickly, so I hoped that he hadn't noticed. He was definitely the most interesting person I had ever known. I had thought that he was simply a strong leader; I never stopped to think about Cole as a person. That realization shocked me, and I almost cut my finger while I was cutting vegetables to serve with the sandwiches. I looked at the clock. I had spent nearly thirty minutes thinking about Cole.

_ This is ridiculous. He's interesting, but not that interesting._ Just then, Nya waltzed into the kitchen.

"Oh, there you are. Where have you been for the last couple of hours?" I asked.

"Hours?" she replied, genuinely shocked.

"Oh, I forgot. You've been with Jay. That surely made the time fly," I teased. Her smile grew wider, but she only blushed slightly.

"Gabriele, I have had the most amazing day ever! And I thought that Jay didn't love me." I laughed at her exuberance.

"I'm glad that you're so happy," I responded, "but seriously, where have you been?"

"On the roof," she said, "watching you all." I froze, and I think that my face went white.

"Why, uh, I mean, what did you, um, see?" I asked nervously.

"Everything. I thought that I told you to no break his heart."

"I'm not! I might have a crush on him, maybe, but that doesn't mean that he likes me, or that I'm going to break his heart!" I retorted.

"So you do like him!" taunted Nya triumphantly.

"Fine! I like Cole! Happy?" I replied, almost yelling.

"Very." I stared at her for a second, my cheeks burning, until we both started laughing. When I could speak, I said,

"Nya, I apologize for trying to pressure you into telling Jay that you love him."

"Oh, it's fine. I get to return the favor," she replied. Trying to change the subject, I asked,

"So, other than watching me, what did you and Jay do?" Now Nya blushed for real.

"Come on, Nya, I just told you about my first crush," I urged.

"Cole is your first crush? Okay, well, Jay was my first kiss."

"Nya, that's great! "

"It was wonderful. And he asked me on a date for tonight."

"I'm so happy for you." Nya was practically beaming. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Jay wouldn't tell me."

"Ooh, how romantic!"

"I know!" Nya exclaimed. We were both giggling like middle school girls by now. We hugged. Suddenly, I remembered what I was doing in the kitchen.

"Hey Nya, will you help me deliver these lunches to everyone?" I had plates of food ready.

"Oh, you made lunch? You're so kind! Usually, we work through lunch, or just grab a piece of fruit."

"Really? How do the guys survive?"

"We are usually fine. What's wrong with eating light?"

"Nothing except that ninja train all day, almost every day, and because of that, they need lots of protein. You can't be that active on fruit. It will make your blood sugar crash."

"What you're saying is that the guys aren't eating enough protein to continue training this hard, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, if the guys eat protein and other good stuff, and a lot of it, then they could do more?"

"Exactly."

"That's fascinating!"

"You think so?"

"Of course! You should tell that to Sensei!"

"Okay. Where is Sensei?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't seen him all morning. He's probably meditating."

"Oh, okay. I'll try to give him his lunch."

"Then I'll take the lunches to the rest."

"Great. I'll see you in a bit." As I walked away, I was thinking about how much I liked Nya. She was strong, dependable, and cheerful almost all of the time. She reminded me of the fact that I was supposed to graduate within a month, and that I needed to tell my family about me being a ninja. Suddenly, I ran into Sensei Wu. He caught the plate that I dropped.

"Why thank you, Gabriele. I am very hungry."

"Oh, you're welcome, Sensei." I was about to ask him about how I could reconcile my two lives but then he unwittingly interrupted me.

"As I was meditating, Gabriele, I saw what everyone on the ship was doing." My face paled and my heart raced. _Is it not possible to keep a secret around here? _"I must congratulate you for your excellent lesson this morning."

"What?" I was really confused. _I wasn't teaching anything._

"Kai was forced to jump and play, stretching his legs. His usual style involves his arms only. Zane played and relaxed, and he did not use his abilities. Jay has gained confidence, something that I have been trying to teach him for a while, and Cole is finally facing his memories. Through that he is learning trust and balance."

"But I didn't do that, I mean, I had nothing to do with Jay and Cole."

"Yes, child, you did. Cole used the topic of you as a base leading to Jay's relationship with Nya, which caused Jay to admit how he feels about Nya, which will cause Jay to propose to Nya tonight." Here I interrupted Sensei.

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Yes, it is. It will give both of them peace; thus increasing their Spinjitsu abilities."

"But Nya isn't a ninja."

"Not yet. I was going to ask her to join the team today. However, Jay would enjoy telling her. Will you please take this to him, and tell him what I told you? I was to eat this sandwhich while it is still hot. Thank you again for making this, Gabriele."

"Um, okay. Would you happen to know where Jay is?"

"He is currently in his room, asking Kai for permission to propose to Nya."

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Sensei."

"You are welcome, Gabriele. Oh, and I contacted your employer and they will be sending you your final paycheck soon, and you will be graduating at the same time as the rest of your class. I will talk to your landlord when we pick up your clothes, and I will arrange something with him. I will have Nya steer the county to your house tomorrow so that you can tell your family."

"Thank you, Sensei. I was just about to ask you for your assistance on that."

"You are welcome." He walked to the deck and disappeared into the light. The box that he had handed to me was not very big and almost flat. I lifted the lid and I saw a neatly folded ninja outfit. It was a majestic purple. There was a note in a flowing hand that read,

_Nya, _

_ Ninja of metal. Welcome to the team. _

I ran to the guys' room. So many exciting things were happening, and I had only been here for about half of a day!


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey everybody, are you ready for a surprise? Great! You get to read a new point of view! This is also a kind of sneak peek at the sequel. Yep, there's going to be a sequel. I hope that y'all are as excited as I am! I don't own Ninjago or anything in my story except my OC. Thanks for reading!**

Illuminate : Chapter 13

Kai's POV

After Zane and I had been scrubbing the deck for a while, Nya walked out of the house bringing what looked like four plates. She was skillfully balancing them on her arms. She was smiling softly, as if she was so happy her feelings were showing whether she wanted to or not. I hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time. Of course, she walked over to Jay first. Her smile grew as she handed him a plate and leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed a little, but it was nothing compared to how he usually reacted when she just spoke to him. It was pretty amazing to me how she could do that and still balance three plates on her arms.

Although I was overprotective at times, I was really glad that Nya and Jay were together. I was maybe, just possibly and tiny bit jealous of Jay, and now Cole. When my parents were alive, they had always seemed to be so happy together. My mom had told me that when she was young, she had a quick temper like me, until she met my dad. It was like a balance, but all I had ever heard from others was how a girl would only stay with me until I started talking, because I would say something to offend her. Even my best friends, Zane, Cole, and Jay would tease me about how I would die alone. I don't think that they realized how much it bothered me. Anyway, it was obvious how much my sister and my friend cared for each other.

While I was thinking, Nya had been trying to give me my plate. She got my attention by punching me in the arm. Hard.

"Hey, what was that for?" I asked.

"I've been trying to give you your sandwich for five minutes now," she said, smiling.

"Oh, thanks sis." With the first bite, I realized how hungry I was. I wolfed down my sandwich. Jay, for some reason, didn't eat a bite of his. He put his plate down on the deck and called,

"Kai, can I talk to you? Privately?" I could hear a little bit of the old Jay creep back into his voice.

"Sure." I wondered what he was nervous about. I left my empty plate on the deck and followed Jay to our room. He shut the door behind me.

"Okay, Jay, what's this about?" I was really curious.

"Well, Kai, you know that I love your sister."

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious." He was pacing back and forth.

"Um, okay, well, what I want to ask, is , well, I want to, um…"

"Come on, Jay." I said, laughing. _He's really nervous._ He stood still, took a deep breath, and turned to face me.

"I want to ask Nya to marry me." Now that's something that I wasn't expecting to hear. I considered Jay's request. _Why is he asking me anyway? _

"So, what are you asking exactly?"

"Well, you are her only relative that I know of, and I know that you are very protective of her. I didn't want to propose without your permission." _So that means that I'll be the one walking her down the aisle?_ That scared me. Was I ready to give her up? _It's not like they're getting married today. _

"Where would you live?" I asked.

"Here on the _Bounty_, in our own room," he replied.

"So you would still be a ninja?"

"Yeah," he responded quickly. _She would still live near me. I would still see her every day._

"All right, Jay. You have my permission to propose to my sister." His face lit up and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Thank you, brother."

**Gabriele's POV**

As I came up to the guy's room, I heard Jay say,

"Thank you, brother." I grinned and knocked on the door. Kai opened it. He was smiling, and it softened his usually scowling face. His hair was more than normally spiky and messy from his activity earlier in the day, but I noticed that he really was a good-looking guy. No wonder all my friends had crushes on him.

"Congrats, Jay!" I called.

"Shush!" he said. "What are you congratulating me for?"

"You got Kai to agree." He laughed.

"It's not Kai that I have to worry about."

"Oh, don't worry. Nya will say yes."

"Wait, you know what I'm talking about?" Kai slipped out the door.

"Yeah. Sensei told me."

"Of course, he did." He sighed and chuckled. "Do you really think she'll say yes?" He was pretty nervous, just like last night.

"I don't know Nya very well, but I do know that she loves you. You're just going to have to ask her yourself. Hey, do you have a ring?" He smiled and pulled a small box out of his pocket. He opened it, and I gasped in delight. The ring was smooth and simple, silver with a brilliant amethyst in the middle. There was almost no design in the silver until really close to the stone, where the metal thinned and swirled to catch the oval-shaped purple gem.

"Oh Jay, it's amazing! She'll love it!"

"Do you think so? I made it myself."

"No way! You're a silversmith?"

"Well, technically, I'm an inventor, but I figured that I might as well try to make a ring. It took a while."

"Wow, Jay, that's awesome! Why did you pick an amethyst?" It was the exact same color as Nya's ninja suit.

"Well, this might sound weird, but she almost always wears red, right? And I wear blue, and blue and red together make purple, so…" He left his sentence unfinished.

"That's genius!" Jay shut the small box and put it back in his pocket.

"So, whatcha got there?" he asked.

"Oh, so when I talked to Sensei Wu, he gave this to me to give to you. You're supposed to give it to Nya tonight."

"Okay, but what is it?" he repeated.

"Why don't you open it and see?" I said while handing it to him. The look on his face was the same one that was on my face when I saw his ring. For once, he was speechless.

"Nya will be so happy!" was all that he could say.

"I bet. By the way, where are you taking her tonight? I won't tell." He grinned and shook his head.

"I'm not going to say, because nothing can be kept a secret around here." I sighed.

"Fine." Then I smiled again. "Good luck." I left the room. I was very hungry, because I hadn't made myself a sandwich. I walked into the kitchen, and I saw Cole leaning against the counter munching on his sandwich.

"Hey Cole," I greeted as I started making myself something to eat. He swallowed and said,

"Hey Gabriele. Where did you go?"

"Oh, nowhere. Do you like your sandwich?" I'm sure that Jay wanted to keep his proposal hidden from as many people as possible.

"Um, it's good. Thank you." _He's so polite._

"You're welcome. Are you going to train this afternoon?"

"Yes. We need to start your instruction." He voice became more formal, like when I first heard him speak. I sighed.

"We might as well get it over with," I commented as I slid my sandwich into the pan to heat it.

"Gabriele, your training is going to last more than one day." _Why does he have to say that? I know that._

"I know that, Cole, but the first of everything is always the hardest." _I'm not stupid._

"Oh, I guess that you're right." _Of course I am. I know what I'm talking about._

"So, telling your first crush that you like them is harder than your second or third crush?" _Oh my gosh. This is awkward._

"Um, well, yeah, I guess. Why?" My face was getting hotter. _I'm so nervous and all that he asked was simple question. Having a crush sucks! Wait, is he blushing too?_ His face was blushing red, and he looked down at the floor. He replied, stumbling over his words.

"Yeah, well, um, I just, I've never had a crush on someone before."

"So, you have a crush on someone now?"

"Um, I didn't say that. I just figured that you had had a crush in the past, so…" _Man, this conversation is awkward. _

"Um, nope, I've never had a crush before." I turned around to my sandwich and I flipped it over. _Come Gabriele. Just make small talk until you can leave._ I faced Cole again, and just as I opened my mouth to change the subject, Nya stuck her head in the door.

"Hey Gabriele, what… oh. What are you two talking about?"

"Crushes." Mentally, I face palmed. _She's going to say something incriminating, I just know it._

"So you guys told each other? Good for you!"

"No Nya, just stop talking, please." I tried to stop her flow of words.

"Oh, you didn't? Um, never mind then." Her head disappeared. _Oh great. Now I have to stand here and explain that._ Cole looked up from the ground, and I saw that his face was more normal now.

"What was that about?" he asked, a slightly mischievous smile creeping across his face.

"Oh, nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically. "Why don't I believe you?" He started to walk closer to me. I ran around the island in the kitchen, and he chased me. As I passed the cooktop, I quickly turned the burner off. If I knew anything about Cole, it was that he was stubborn, and he would do anything to get the answer out of me. I also knew that I wouldn't answer him to save my life. I decided to detour into the living room, and I heard Cole hit the door frame as he tried to change course. I giggled as I dashed to the other side of the sofa. He quickly followed me, and he ended up behind the sofa while I was near the TV. Suddenly, he started to climb over the back. I yelled and headed for the deck. When I sprinted out, Kai, Zane, Jay, and Nya all stared at me.

"What are you doing?" Kai called after me.

"Um, playing tag. Cole's it." I replied as Cole barreled out. Everyone scattered as Cole chased me. He followed me behind the house and grabbed my arm.

"Come on, Gabriele. I caught you, fair and square. You have to tell me now."

"Cole, they think that we're all playing tag. Just pretend that I'm 'it' now. I promise that I'll tell you later." He didn't do anything. "Please?" He nodded and let go of my arm. Suddenly, he called,

"No tag backs!" I laughed. _Safe for now._ I dashed out and started chasing Nya. Our impromptu game lasted for a long time, but we all finally collapsed in a big pile in the shade under the roof of the house. Everyone was breathing hard, even Zane, who did not want us to stop.

"That… was… very fun," he said in between breaths.

"Oh yeah," I responded. "That was one of the best games of tag that I've ever played." I slowly lowered myself down to the deck. I closed my eyes, and absorbed the feelings from my other senses. The sheets were dry, and their clean scent filled the air. They flapped lightly in the breeze, and I could hear the wind whistle gently. My hands lay on the deck, and the wood felt smooth under my fingertips. The air around me felt comfortably warm as it gently caressed my skin. As my breathing slowed, my thoughts grew slower and smoother, and I began to assess exactly how tired I was. My calves were already sore, and the rest of my legs felt like limp noodles.

"Gabriele?" _I think that that's Zane. Or is it Cole? _"What are you doing?" _Cole._

"Relaxing. I'm removing my vision from my thoughts so that I only have to worry about what information I'm receiving from my other senses."

"So, in other words, you are meditating?" Zane inquired.

"Yeah, I guess. Y'all should do it. And yes, I did just say 'y'all.'" I heard someone's mouth shut, and I smiled. I felt everyone shift, and I knew that they were all laying down. Slowly, my thoughts became less organized and focused, and my weariness overtook me. I fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi readers! I just had someone say that my story is their favorite on the entire website! I'm so excited! It's those kind of things that make authors want to keep writing. However, if you don't like something about this story, the only way that it's going to change is if you tell me! Please review! **

Illuminate : Chapter 14

Cole's POV

After our game of tag, the guys, Nya, and Gabriele and I sat down in the shade to rest. Gabriele laid down on her back and closed her eyes. She looked so calm, but I did want to know what she was doing, so I decided to disturb her.

"Gabriele? What are you doing?" She answered without moving or opening her eyes.

"Relaxing. I'm removing my vision from my thoughts so that I only have to worry about what information I'm receiving from my other senses. " I didn't really listen to much that she said; it went over my head, and I was pretty distracted by her lips. They were smooth and full, and the image of me kissing Gabriele suddenly filled my head. _Stop it, Cole. You don't know her well enough to even think about thinking about her. Get control of yourself._ I focused, but only in time to hear Zane sum what she had said.

"So, in other words, you are meditating?"

"Yeah, I guess. Y'all should do it." Kai opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"And yes, I did just say 'y'all'." He shut his mouth and followed Gabriele's example. We all copied him, and somehow, I ended up next to Gabriele. With my eyes closed, I could sense so much more. Mainly though, I realized how close Gabriele and I were to each other. Our hands were so close, if I had moved ever a little bit we would have been touching. I forced myself to think about something else, and my mind started reviewing everything that had happened to me today. I was starting to see why Gabriele 'meditated.' It was pretty relaxing. My heart rate slowed, and all of my muscles relaxed. This was the most calm that I had felt in a long time. After a while, I opened my eyes and sat up. Everyone was asleep.

"Hey, hey guys? You awake?" I asked. No one moved. I smiled. _They're all going to be really sore when they wake up. _Jay and Nya were cuddled together, Zane was perfectly straight, and Kai was curled up. Gabriele was flat on the deck like Zane, but she looked more relaxed and happy than he did. She was smiling. For some reason, I felt like she didn't deserve to hurt on her first day here. I picked her up as gently as possible and I held her bridal style. As I stood up, she shifted and frowned, so I stood perfectly still and held my breath until she snuggled close to me and smiled. I breathed out and carefully walked to her bedroom. I didn't want to put her down. She was so warm and comfortable in my arms, but I knew that it was inappropriate for me to be holding her like this, so I laid her gently on her bed. Without thinking, I gently kissed her forehead. As I straightened up, I whispered,

"Sleep well, Gabriele."

**Gabriele's POV**

I woke up feeling amazingly happy, and for a second I couldn't remember why. Then I knew. I didn't know if it had been a dream or if it had actually happened, but Cole had kissed me. It was just on the forehead, but it was still the best dream that I had ever had. I heard a knock at my door, and Nya called,

"Gabriele? Are you up?"

"Yeah," I called back. She opened the door and immediately started talking.

"Gabby, I have to leave for my date in an hour and I don't know what to wear! Please come help me!" He hair was wrapped up, and she was wearing a towel.

"Oh, of course." I jumped up and followed Nya to her room. It was actually a very pretty room. Although the guys' room was pretty bare, Nya had painted her walls a light cloud gray, with rich purple curtains. Her bed was a twin bed covered with a white coverlet that was embroidered with purple flowers. Next to her bed, a desk was standing. Everything was neat and clean. Even her closet was organized by color. Jay had been right; most of her clothes were red, but she had some other colors. I rushed to the closet and started searching through everything that she owned. Suddenly, I pulled out a pink dress.

The bodice was dusted with sparkles, and the skirt flowed elegantly in waves to knee-length. The color was a bright magenta at the hem, and it faded to white at the halter top.

"Oh Nya, this is exquisite! You have to wear this. Where did you get it?"

"My mother gave it to me to wear to my prom. She had worn it to her prom, then she altered it so that it was fashionable for me. She and Dad died before I could wear it, so it's sat in my closet forever."

"Why didn't you wear it to prom? You would have been the prettiest girl there." She hesitated before answering.

"Don't tell Kai, but I dropped out of school so that I could get a job to support us. He thought that he was paying the bills with his blacksmith work, but it was my paycheck. I worked as a waitress until Sensei asked Kai to be a ninja."

"So, Kai thinks that you've graduated?"

"Yeah." I was pretty shocked, but I decided to not say anything because Nya looked pretty sad, and the last thing that I wanted to do was make her cry.

"Come on, Nya, don't be sad. Try on the dress!" She smiled and dashed back to the bathroom. When she came back, I literally bounced with excitement.

"Nya, you're gorgeous! And I found some perfect shoes while you were gone." I held a pair of simple black leather flats. She slipped them on, and her outfit was complete. Well, almost complete. After a little more searching, I uncovered a light black bolero and matching handbag.

"There. Now all that we need to do is finish your makeup and hair," I said. Her hair was almost dry, so I brushed and straightened it quickly. Meanwhile, she applied a small amount of makeup, like mascara and lipstick. I noticed that she picked waterproof mascara. _Considering that Jay plans on popping the question, that's probably wise, but I wonder why she chose it. _ Finally, everything was done, but she was still missing something. I realized what it was suddenly.

"Quick, Nya, do you have a silver necklace?" I asked.

"No. I don't really wear jewelry," she replied. I dashed to my backpack and dug through the pockets. _Aha!_ There it was. I hurried back to Nya's room with a small chain in my hands.

"Nya, wear this." It was a thin chain with a small clear rhinestone handing from it on a pendant. I had received it as a gift, but I had never worn it.

"Okay," she replied. As she finished attaching it around her neck, I heard a knock at the door.

"Nya? It's Jay," he called.

"Nya, you look great. Now, head out there and have a great time," I whispered encouragingly. She was a little pale, but she nodded and smiled as she walked to the door. The look on Jay's face was indescribable. He was dressed in a suit, and I realized just how handsome he actually was.

"Um, so, um, you're ready to go?" he asked. Nya seemed just as overwhelmed by Jay as he was by her.

"Uh, yeah, yes, um, I suppose so." He held out his arm, and she took it gracefully as they walked to the upper deck. _Good luck, Jay._


	15. Chapter 15

**Y'all are about to read one of my favorite chapters! Unfortunately, I don't own any of it. Please review and tell me if you like it as much as I do!**

Illuminate : Chapter 15

Nya's POV

I felt ridiculous in all of this fancy stuff, but the look on Jay's face had been worth it. I'm sure that I looked just as ridiculous staring at him. I had never seen Jay in formal wear, and he was very dashing in it. He asked if I was ready to go, and I guess that I answered because he held out his arm like a gentleman, I took it, and we walked to the desk. As soon as we hit the ground, right outside of a city, Jay turned to me and said,

"Nya, you're absolutely gorgeous." I blushed hotter than melted tungsten.

"Oh, thanks. You look very handsome," I said. He bowed dramatically, and I laughed.

"There we go. I was waiting for a laugh," he announced as we walked on.

"Really? Why?" I asked.

"Well, I can't have you miserable at… oh, that's right, it's a surprise."

"Oh, come on, Jay! Tell me." We had reached the edge of the city, and I was finally able to walk on concrete.

"Nope, it's going to be a surprise," he replied with a smile.

"Please, Jay?" I begged. He hesitated for a second but he shook his head.

"Really?"

"Really really." I had thought that I had him for a second. _Wait. I know the perfect way to get him to tell me._ Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he told me to close my eyes and held my hand. I obeyed, but I said,

"Jay, I'll kiss you if you tell me where we're going." He stopped and said,

"If you open your eyes, you can see for yourself." I opened my eyes and gasped. We were standing in front of _Teinan_, one of the most famous restaurants in all of Ninjago.

"Oh Jay, thank you!" I kissed him quickly and pulled him inside.

After dinner, Jay and I started walking back to the _Bounty_. I took my time, though, because this was one of the best times I had ever had. We talked about everything and nothing; it was enough for us to be together.

Into our perfect summer evening, a drop of rain fell. Literally, it started raining.

"Jay, did you feel something?" I asked.

"Um, no," he replied. Just as he answered, a large drop of rain hit him on the nose.

"Just kidding," he said as he smiled. It was one of those rainstorms where one second you fell a drop on your hand and the next you can barely see five feet in front of you. Suddenly, the rain was pouring down and I was getting soaked.

"Come on! We have to find shelter!" I shouted. The rain must have drowned out my voice, because Jay was just staring at me. I grabbed his hand and pulled him as I ran down the street. I saw a bus stop and I headed for it. When we reached it, I dropped Jay's hand and said,

"Oh my gosh, I am completely soaked! I had no idea that it would start raining so quickly." I looked in the direction of the _Bounty_ as I tried to wring the water out of my skirt. I couldn't see anything except for the rain and streetlights. Jay was being strangely silent. I turned around to see him, down on one knee, holding out a ring in a small box. My hands flew to my face, and I thought _Oh my gosh, this isn't happening. This can't be happening; he wouldn't have the courage. I didn't think that this was going to happen now. What should I say?_ He started talking.

"Nya, I have known you for two years now, and ever since I saw you, I liked you. You were gorgeous and smart, and everything a guy could ask for. Then, around the beginning of this year, I started to notice that something was different. I began to notice little things about you, instead how beautiful you were. I noticed that you clench your fists behind your back when you're angry, and when you're nervous you play with fingers and bite you lip, and you smile almost all of time. With everything that I discovered, I realized that I liked you less and less and that I loved you more and more. Nya, I'm not asking Kai's sister to marry me, but I am asking Nya to marry me, the Nya who doesn't like salmon, prefers chocolate to vanilla, whose favorite fruit is a plum, and gave up her education so that her brother could be happy. So Nya Ferrer, will you marry me?"

I had never dreamed of a proposal that beautiful. And he knew all of that about me! Some people would think that it was little weird, but we did live together and this was marriage we were talking about. I was crying, but the rain that had fallen on my face covered my tears. As I looked at him, his golden auburn hair damp with rain, his eyes hopeful and filled with promise, I knew that there was only one answer I could give.

Jay's POV

I was very nervous about my date with Nya. I was going to propose to her, and she had only said that she loved me that morning. I had no idea what she was going to say. Just because Kai had let me propose, and Gabriele had said that Nya would say 'yes' didn't mean that she would. I almost decided to not ask her, but then I remembered why I was going to ask her to marry me in the first place. I couldn't live without her. I built up my courage until it was time to get Nya from her room. I could only hope that she had dressed well enough for the date. I had gotten reservations at the best restaurant I knew of, and I was wearing a suit.

_Just calm down, Jay. Nya is the most appropriate person you know; I'm sure that she'll dress perfectly._ When my love opened the door, I almost gasped like a little girl who had just gotten a kitten for her birthday. She was wearing a pink dress that emphasized her slim legs, and it was just low enough that it was flirty without showing too much. She was blushing, probably because she didn't wear dresses often. It was the most beautiful outfit I had ever seen her in.

"Um, so, um, you're ready to go?" I stuttered. _Come on, Jay. You were able to talk earlier today. Nya understands you._

"Uh, yeah, yes, um, I suppose so," she replied. _She's just as tongue-tied as you are. Be a man, Jay. Don't be nervous._ I held out my arm to her, and she took it gently. Her touch was light, gentle, and warm. It comforted me for some reason.

Luckily, she was wearing flats. I wasn't short, but it would have been awkward for her to be taller than me. As it was, I was a couple inches taller, and that fact gave me confidence. As soon as we were out of earshot of the ship, I turned to Nya and said,

"Nya, you're absolutely gorgeous." _Nice._ Her face burned, and she looked down at her shoes.

"Oh, thanks. You look very handsome," she replied. As I bowed dramatically, I thought, _The suit was so worth it._ She laughed, and I let out a breath I didn't know that I had been holding.

"There we go. I was waiting for a laugh." _Great, Jay. Now you've got to explain that._

"Really? Why?" _See?_

"Well, I couldn't have you miserable at… oh, that's right, it's a surprise." _Nice save._

"Oh, come on, Jay! Tell me." She exclaimed.

"Nope, it's going to be a surprise." _I hope that she doesn't keep asking, because I have a hard time resisting her._

"Please Jay?" _Of course she's not going to stop. She's Nya._ She looked so sweet and innocent that I didn't trust my mouth to answer. I just shook my head.

"Really?" She sounded more exasperated now, and I trusted myself to say,

"Really really." We were on the same street as the restaurant now. We walked onward in silence for a while. As soon as we reached the front of the restaurant, I said,

"Nya, close your eyes." I took her hand as she said,

"Jay, I'll kiss you if you tell me where we're going." Oh man, I did not want to pass that offer up, but we were here already, and I did not want to press my advantage.

"If you open your eyes, you can see for yourself." Her beautiful eyes popped open, and she gasped in excited shock.

"Oh Jay, thank you!" she exclaimed. She turned to me and kissed me. _Score! _It was quick, but it still felt like heaven. Nya was heaven on earth to me, and that's why I was going to propose.

By the time that dinner was over, I was much more relaxed. Even though Nya and I were both twenty-one, I felt like we were teenagers, talking and laughing about anything. _Why was I nervous? Nya and I love each other. I'm sure that she'll say yes._ I was still kind of scared, though. I still hadn't decided when I was going to ask her. When we left the restaurant, we started walking in the opposite direction of the _Bounty_. Nya didn't appear to notice, so I didn't say anything. I didn't want our date to end. Just being with Nya made me feel, well, happy. In the middle of our wonderful time, it started raining. I hate rain, and I don't think that Nya liked it either. We were underneath a street light when it started to rain, and the drops on her face and hair glistened. She looked like she was made of gold. Her pure beauty took my breath away. I think that she might have said something, but I didn't answer. Suddenly she grabbed my hand and started running. The spell was broken, and fear flooded my heart.

_Who am I to think that Nya would even consider marrying me? What am I going to do?_ My heart was racing and my adrenaline was pumping. When we reached a bus stop, she let go of my hand and started talking about the sudden change in the weather. Then I realized that if I didn't ask her to marry me now, I would never again have the courage. I pulled the box out of my pocket, opened it, and went down on one knee. In a matter of seconds, she turned around. She covered most of her face with her hands, so I only saw her eyes. I knew that she was shocked, but I couldn't tell if she was happy or sad. I started talking, hoping that she would say 'yes'.

"Nya, I have known you for two years now, and ever since I saw you, I liked you." _Good start._ "You were gorgeous and smart, and everything a guy could ask for. Then, around the beginning of this year, I started to notice that there was something different." _Do you even know what you're talking about?_ "I began to notice little things about you, instead of how beautiful you were." _Oh, bad choice of words._ " I noticed that you clench your fists behind your back when you're angry, and when you're nervous you play with your fingers and bite your lip, and you smile almost all of the time. With everything that I noticed, I realized that I liked you less and less and that I loved you more and more." _Nice save._ "I'm not asking Kai's sister to marry me, but I am asking Nya to marry me, the Nya who doesn't like salmon, prefers chocolate to vanilla, whose favorite fruit is a plum, and who gave up her education so that her brother could be happy. So, Nya Ferrer, will you marry me?"

_Man, Jay, could you have sounded any more stalker-ish? She isn't answering. Is she going to say no? Oh, please say yes. Wait one second, is she crying?_ Her hands were just covering her mouth now, and I could see tears running down her cheeks. Just as I was going to ask what was wrong, she moved her hands away from her mouth. _This is it._

"Yes."

_Did she just… she did! _ The goofiest smile spread across my face as I jumped up and pulled Nya to me. I kissed her as quickly as possible. I found her hand and slid my ring onto it. I could have kissed her forever, but I pulled back and said,

"Oh, there's one more surprise." She sighed, with a huge smile, and replied,

"I don't know if I can take another surprise, Jay."

"Don't worry, Nya. You'll absolutely love this." I pulled out the note that had been in the box with her ninja suit and handed it to Nya. She took it and started reading it. In a second's time, her happy smile was replaced with a look of complete and utter shock. She read it again, and again. She looked up at me, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why?" she asked in a whisper as she sat down on the bench in the bus stop.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I sat right next to her.

"Why now? All of my dreams are coming true at one time, and I don't know how to think it all through." She looked up at me, and I couldn't resist. I reached out and touched her cheek.

"Don't think, Nya, just feel." I slowly leaned towards her, and she closed her eyes and smiled. This time, we really made out. It was the best moment of my entire life. Well, until Nya pulled me out into the rain.

"What the… I hate the rain!" I tried to hurry back into the shelter of the bus stop, but Nya pulled me closer to her.

"Come on, Jay. Let's dance in the rain," she said. I really didn't want to, but the look on her face, and the fact that she had just agreed to marry me, convinced me to stay out in the rain with her. We waltzed in the rain, and it turns out that Nya was a great dancer. In between that and the amazing kisses that we shared, I started to like the rain.


	16. Author's Note

Author's Note

** Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that I disrupted the flow of the story. I personally hate when authors post ANs in the middle of their stories, but I really need help. Can you all please go to my profile and vote on my poll? It would mean the world to me! Thanks, and beautiful new chapters are coming soon, I promise. The next chapter will be really cool. Thanks!**


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